Passenger with newborn refuses to cancel after booking wrong ride, causes Tada driver to be penalised
Update on Jan 3:
Andy said Tada has refunded the penalty fee that he incurred.
He said: "Thumbs up for their efficiency in protecting drivers."
Original article:
Cheapstake or no regard for the law?
A passenger booked a regular Tada ride despite having a newborn with her and then refused to cancel the booking.
Stomper Andy noted that as a private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver, he is unable to take babies and anyone below the height of 1.35m as he does not have a booster seat in his car. To do otherwise would be flouting the Road Traffic Act.
Taxis are exempted from this rule as they can be street-hailed. Hence, it would not be reasonable to expect them to be equipped with booster seats and child restraints at all times, or to reject passengers with infants or children.
Screenshots that Andy shared show the passenger saying that she had a three-month-old baby with her and "please take us".
When asked to cancel the booking, the passenger said: "We booked and cancelled 5 times already."
Andy then told her to book a taxi instead, but the passenger told him: "You want you cancel."
Andy said he would report this to Tada and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), to which the passenger replied: "Like I've said, if you want to cancel please do it from your side."
Expressing his frustration, Andy told Stomp: "This passenger booked the wrong type of ride and expects the driver to cancel and incur a penalty for their mistake. Or are they trying to save money and disregard the law?
"I had to cancel one hour later in order to continue taking jobs and ended up paying a $1.09 penalty because I was the one who cancelled.
"It is extremely unfair to drivers who follow the rules and regulations. Why should we be penalised for taking a job when it's the passenger who booked wrongly?"
Asked if this is a common occurrence, Andy said: "Normally, when we refuse to take passengers due to their children who are below 1.35m, they will cancel. However, this passenger is abusing the app and I am being penalised for it."
