Ryde Technologies (Ryde), Singapore’s homegrown mobility app, has clarified that it will not tap private-hire drivers and cabbies for the new peer-to-peer, which was said to be available from 3 September 2018.
The company stated earlier that it is expanding beyond ride-hailing services to on-demand, door-to-door courier services with its latest feature RydeSEND, claiming to be the only ride-hailing app to offer a peer-to-peer courier service with over 60,000 drivers.
Ryde then released another statement on Thursday (16 August), apologising for the confusion it caused on Wednesday, when it announced the new service RydeSend.
In its earlier statement, the company said that RydeSEND is an on-demand courier service that allows anyone to deliver small items like documents, parcels, flowers or even properly packed meals within 60 minutes.
However, Ryde announcement of its new service is not in accordance with Land Transport Authority (LTA), which said the service would “contravene the regulations prohibiting Public Service Vehicles such as taxis and private hire cars from solely conveying goods”.
The authority also stressed that drivers accepting such jobs may have their vocational licences revoked.
Private-hire cars and taxis are meant to carry passengers for hire and reward, and cannot be used for the conveyance of goods under the law.
Ryde stated in its statement that it will not tap private-hire drivers for RydeSend.
The company, which has signed up 3,000 taxi drivers but has yet to incorporate them onto the Ryde booking system, will also not use these cabbies for RydeSend.
The firm stated that it will tap private drivers, instead, who may be available in their spare time to deliver items for the app’s users.
Ryde’s chief executive and founder Terence Zou stated that Ryde aims to expand its peer-to-peer network with motorcyclists, targeting the 140,000 motorcycles in Singapore.
According to its statement, registrations for motorcyclists via the Ryde Driver app will open on 3 September 2018, which targets to onboard 20,000 motorcyclists for its RydeSEND courier service by fourth quarter of 2018.
