By Yeo Ghim Lay

COMMUTERS travelling in SMRT taxis will soon be able to pay their fares with their ez-link cards.

The taxi operator, the first to roll out this payment method, will install card readers in 600 of its taxis by the end of the month.

The rest of its 3,000-strong fleet will have the readers installed over the next four months.

SMRT said commuters will have to pay an extra administrative charge of 10 cents for each transaction using an ez-link card, but this will be waived until 2010.

SMRT Taxis' vice-president Lo Chee Wen said commuters on its buses and trains are already using their ez-link cards to pay their fares, so 'extending this cashless mode of payment to our taxis will add convenience and ease'.

The ez-link card reader in SMRT's taxis will indicate the balance in the card before payment is made.

After the payment goes through, the customer will get a receipt stating the fare and the card's balance.

Commuters who take SMRT taxis now pay their fares with cash or credit cards.

The main player in the taxi market, ComfortDelgro, does not accept payment via ez-link cards, but commuters may pay for their fares using cash, Nets, credit cards, taxi vouchers or corporate charge cards.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 11, 2008.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.