SINGAPORE: ComfortDelGro has seen an "uptick" in bookings made through its call centre and phone app for its taxis in the first five months of 2018, it announced on Wednesday (Jun 6).

The taxi operator said that bookings increased by almost 9 per cent year-on-year in May 2018, which is the biggest year-on-year jump since September 2014.





The turnaround in bookings has come on the back of Uber's exit from the region, said ComfortDelGro. It added that the roll out of its marketing promotions, such as promo codes for passengers, in recent months has also played a part.



Current promotion includes offering passengers S$3 off their flat fares when they book via the ComfortDelGro app during off peak hours and S$8 off their fares on rides original from the city which are taken between 1am and 5am.



About 57,000 promo codes have been redeemed so far, said ComfortDelGro.

"We have been rolling out very targeted booking promotions and this, we believe, has helped to boost the demand. At the same time, we are also giving our cabbies weekly incentives to reward them for actively taking booking jobs so that passengers can get their taxis even faster," said Mr Ang Wei Neng, ComfortDelGro Taxi CEO.



Last month, ComfortDelGro announced that it has placed an order for 200 new cabs, its first in close to one-and-a-half years, giving it a market share of about 60 per cent.



It had also announced that close to 300 new hirers were signed up in April.

