Use taxi apps, not platform like Gojek, says passenger who was charged $10 booking fee
A man who booked a taxi on the Gojek app was shocked when he found out the total payment included a current booking fee of $10.
Stomp user Ivan said he had booked the GoTaxi ride from Suntec City on Aug 20 at 10.17pm.
He was assigned a Prime Taxi cabby driving a Toyota Camry Hybrid.
At the end of his trip, he was charged $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 shown on the Prime Taxi website.
But Ivan felt it was unfair that 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.
Ivan contacted Gojek and 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".
But Ivan raised the following issues with booking taxis via GoTaxi or any other third party app.
♦ A platform fee is applicable.
♦. You cannot choose the type of taxi.
♦ Premium taxis are included and their booking fee is not made known in the app or when the passenger boards.
♦. The passenger cannot cancel without incurring a cancellation fee
Gojek charges a platform fee of $0.70.
Ivan said: "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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