Originally posted by O771303:

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Let's look at the official stance:

1) You cannot put any sign up if you have the electronic one on the roof. Only the roof must be activated to show busy/change shift.

You can put change anywhere provided you are changing shift there. If not you can't. You are only allowed to change shift if you're actually changing shift. If you're OMO, you are NEVER allowed to put change shift, because you have no relief - you can only put busy and return to base.

I'm not joking this told to me by LTA officer who investigated me for putting CS and then not doing so, instead continuing to drive and of course la, later after midnight back to normal.

A pax complained, but I somehow gave a reason for putting CS because I had to go to a certain place to do something. He then explained the rules. This offence carries a 2 wk suspension with $200 fine plus demerit points (cant remember how many).

I was fortunate because no further action was taken. However CDG damn bastard one, in the first place they never will give you advance notice that a complaint has been lodged against you, instead they will themselves cooperate fully with LTA - they will retrieve all the data and submit to LTA even before you're called up.

Ok never mind, drive for them must expect all this, then what happened some time later, I **** care la, carry on as usual. Then out of the blue, 1 day when I put CS in around 7-8 pm, as usual the MDT will beep but I normally don't bother, suddenly the operator can call me and ask me whether I can take up the job which I just ignored? She put very nicely, sir you changing shift ar, but can fetch this pax or not from this place to this place (Ollan one la, what to expect from their calls, inside CBD expect you go outside to take call, me clark quay, pax at Robertson then go far away from city centre)?

1st of all it wasn't a busy day in CBD area, got many CDG cabs with green signs driving up and down, even beside me when I reject, why doesn't the system automatically go to the next one? Somemore where got operator actually call you to offer a booking job?

So I suspected that CDG even before LTA ask again if in future got complain, already began to monitor my daily activities to some degree. So this 1 was test case, see how I react.

After that I rarely put CS, instead do my own interview or second guess pax based on experience. So far so good, touch wood.

2) You are not allowed to pick up pax at the drop area of a taxi stand - I think this is obvious. However if a pax boards your cab and refuses to budge, then you have an excuse to perform the trip. But this you can only use once la, keep doing it nobody is gonna believe you.

However ethically as a TD, think about those who are lining up, wouldn't you be upset if this was to happen to you. To be really fair, if the pax insists on taking your cab, ask him to go out to the main road away from the stand and you drive there and pick him from there.

3) Orchard KTV is a side lane, not part of the taxi stand at OT (I think only 1 maybe 2 cabs can wait there (taxi stand), although the queue will have more than 10 at times, maybe more). So drop off there and pick up, is not wrong under LTA rules. You must pick up from the stand if it is within view, near and has pax waiting there. Here there no pax at the stand, only a queue of cabs exceeding the prescribed number. You can also say the stand is not within view depending on your position, thus even it's near, you can't see it.

Here you pick from a side road, not in bus lane, or near bus stop etc. No offence. Ethically also not wrong, you are waiting at a separate area from the queue, doesn't mean you wait there pax will take your cab anyway, plus how long can you wait there, eventually you'll be blocking traffic.

I dunno what some drivers may or may not think, in the past (90s) as long as you don't stop infront of a queue of waiting cabs wherever it may be(usually happens after midnight) and poach pax away from that queue, this one not salah. You wait opposite side, different angle as long not cutting into the queue, this is okay. But some like to park slightly further ahead, say 30-50m away, where pax can see both yours and the queue and some will then take you. This one not ethical lah - you a lot of this outside St James, instead of joining the queue at the carpark exit's right, they park slightly ahead to exit's left, pax coming out to the main road will see both and depending where they walking from, some will board the taxis ahead.

But if you drove into the carpark itself and waited isnide, this one not wrong, but beware of parking charges if you stay too long inside.