Tada driver gets warning after mum charged $2.50 for cancelled ride over baby and car seat

A woman was left frustrated after a Tada driver allegedly refused to take her ride upon seeing her baby and car seat — and asked her to cancel the trip instead.

Stomper Tomato said the incident happened on April 9 at about 5.39pm after she booked a ride from Jurong East to National Junior College.

“When the driver arrived and saw my baby and the car seat, he said he couldn’t take me as it was not covered by insurance,” she said.

“He told me to cancel the ride because if he cancelled, he would get demerit points.”

Left with little choice, the Stomper said she cancelled the ride and was charged a $2.50 cancellation fee.

“This is the first time a driver told me ‘nicely’ to cancel the trip to protect his system reputation,” she said.

Unfortunately, she shared that this was not the first time she had encountered such an issue when travelling with her 14-month-old baby and a car seat.

The Stomper later contacted Tada’s customer service and was initially told that insurance did not cover babies in car seats.

However, she said she later received a follow-up call from Tada clarifying that infants travelling in their own child seats are, in fact, covered.

“They apologised for the miscommunication from both the driver and the call agent,” she said, adding that she was advised to inform drivers in advance that she would be travelling with a child in a car seat so they could decide whether to accept the job.

When asked if she would continue booking rides via Tada, the Stomper said she uses ride-hailing services two to three times a week and often compares them with taxis, which she described as “hit and miss”.

“Taxis sometimes have cigarette smells, and there can be additional surcharges that push the fare higher than expected,” she said.

In response to a Stomp query, Tada said the safety of riders is a top priority, especially for families travelling with young children.

“Under our current policy, riders travelling with infants using their own child seats are covered by insurance, and both the parent and child are protected during the trip,” a spokesperson said.

“Following our investigation, we acknowledge that there was an error in the information provided by our customer support agent. We are taking steps to improve our internal processes and training to ensure accurate guidance is given moving forward.”

The spokesperson added that Tada has issued a warning to the driver and reinforced the correct policy.

“We have reached out to the rider to clarify the situation, refunded the cancellation fee, and provided her with additional ride vouchers to support her upcoming trips and ensure a smoother experience moving forward,” the spokesperson said.

“Providing a safe, fair and reliable ride experience remains central to what we do, and we will continue to improve both our driver and support standards.”

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