Passenger says $10 taxi booking fee is unfair

A rider was shocked when he received his receipt from a recent taxi ride, stating that the total fee included a current booking fee of $10.

Stomp contributor Ivan shared with Stomp that he had booked a GoTaxi ride via the Gojek app from Suntec City on Aug 20 at about 10.17pm.

He was assigned a Prime Taxi cabby who was driving a Toyota Camry Hybrid. 

At the end of his trip, he was charged a total fare of $44.08, including a peak hour surcharge, city area surcharge, booking fee and Gojek platform fee.

The $10 current booking fee for a Toyota Camry taxi during peak hours is reflected on the Prime Taxi website.

However, Ivan felt it was unfair this was not reflected in the app when he made his booking.

"When we book, we are expecting a normal taxi booking fee of $3.30 but when GoJek assigns a taxi, it does not state that it is a premium taxi which has higher booking fees," he said.

After contacting Gojek regarding the matter, Ivan shared their response with Stomp.

Gojek said that GoTaxi orders are allocated to both premium and non-premium taxis, a practice that is similar to other platforms.

They advised Ivan that he can cancel the GoTaxi order if he is not comfortable with the premium taxi pricing as they "do not regulate the taxi meter fares for premium taxis".

However, Ivan expressed some concerns with booking taxis via GoTaxi or any other third party app.

He added: "Gojek charges a platform fee of $0.70."

"You are better off making a direct booking with the respective taxi company's app as there is no platform fee and you can choose the type of taxi you want."

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