ERRANT taxi drivers are cleaning up their act as stiffer penalties for flouting the rules take hold this week.

Not a single cabby was found overcharging, touting or refusing to pick up passengers on Monday, the first day when stiffer penalties for offenders kicked in, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Wednesday.

This is in sharp contrast to just a week ago, when 36 cabbies were nabbed in enforcement operations carried out by the LTA from Nov 6 to 17 at several spots such as Boat Quay, Chijmes, Clarke Quay, Mustafa Centre, Orchard Towers, Harbour Front, Sentosa and Tanah Merah Ferry terminal.

A third of these were caught flouting rules after Nov 12 - when stiffer penalties under the Vocational Licensing Points System (VLPS) were announced.

Since the beginning of its crackdown on errant cabbies in October, the LTA has nabbed 116 taxi drivers for various offenses.

Of these 59 per cent were drivers of Mercedes taxis. Of the 116 errant drivers caught, 27 were issued Notice of Traffic Offences, with more to follow when investigations are completed.

If penalised under the VLPS, five will have their vocational licence revoked while six will have their licence suspended for two to eight weeks. The others will get fines and demerit points.

The LTA said that it will continue enforcement operations in cooperation with taxi companies and drivers' associations to eliminate such malpractices.

City Cab driver Adi Negara, 48, welcomed the tougher stance against errant cabbies.

'Bad taxi drivers should be punished - the image of good taxi drivers should not be tarnished by others,' he said.

Passenger Mr Calvin Chua, 27, was sceptical that the harsher penalties would be effective in the long-term.

'It's a good sign that cabbies are getting the message,' said Mr Chua, who has been overcharged on several occasions.

'But I'm not sure if this will have a long-term impact,' he said, referring to the seat belt fine that was imposed five years ago.

He noted that some passengers have again reverted to not buckling up, with taxi drivers doing little to enforce the rule.

Cabbies who refuse to pick up passengers will now face harsher penalties: a $300 fine, six demerit points and an immediate two-week suspension.

If they solicit or tout for passengers, they will now have to pay $500, get 12 demerit points and face an immediate four-week suspension.

For those found overcharging by more than $20, their licences can be revoked altogether.

Members of the public are asked to call LTA's hotline at 1800-CALL LTA (1800-225-5582) to report errant taxi drivers.

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