Tan Kin Lian - Perspectives How to deal with high Grab fares
Grab fares are now quite expensive, especially during peak hours when surge pricing is used.

This is not the fault of the Grab platform, nor the Grab drivers. With high COE prices, they need to earn sufficient revenue to cover the cost of buying and maintaining the cars, and to provide sufficient income for the drivers.

The fault lies mainly with the PAP government. It is insane to allow COE prices to increase to such a high level. Those who bought new cars or commercial vehicles have to meet high operating expenses and need to cover their cost.

The problem of high cost will be reflected in higher prices, adding to the high cost of living.

The government wants to increase the supply of COE, as a temporary measure. This may cause the COE prices to moderate or even drop. It may help the new buyers, but the recent buyers already paid the high prices for their COEs. It will cause a different set of problems.

The government should recognize that the current pricing for COE, based on the bidding system, is the underlying problem. They have to move to a new system of pricing the COE.

I have suggested that the COE prices should be fixed by the government every 3 or 6 months. It should not be determined based on bidding.

I make this suggestion to help address a big problem faced in Singapore.

Tan Kin Lian

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