'Cheapo' Tada passenger with kid asks to be dropped off after refusing to pay extra $2 for booster seat

Update on June 15:

Husband of Tada passenger says driver 'playing victim' after dropping her and child by road over $2

Original article:

It was only $2.

A Tada passenger asked to be dropped off after baulking at paying an extra $2 purportedly for a booster seat.

An anonymous Facebook user who shared a video of the incident in the "Professional PHV Drivers Singapore" group said: "Another cheapo Karen with four-year-old and don't want to pay $2 booster seat when provided."

Posted on Sunday (June 11), the 1½-minute video was taken inside a vehicle where a man and a woman can be heard talking but cannot be seen.

The man, who appears to be the Tada driver, and the woman were purportedly talking about the $2 surcharge for a booster seat although "booster seat" was not mentioned in the video.

Below is a transcript of their conversation:

Passenger: "And just now we also took Tada to here and with him also."

Driver: "And so by Singapore law, when you have a..."

Passenger: "I don't want to talk about this, whatever you accept, then you accept. I don't want to extra fee or what, you know? Because this is what... we always take every week and every time also."

Driver: "Okay."

Passenger: "Maybe you can drop us here, you know, we don't mind. I'm not going to pay for extra $2 because... you know?"

Driver: "So you're going to say that it's wrong for me to collect $2 because I'm following the law?"

Passenger: "No, because Tada doesn't have such thing that says I have to pay extra $2."

Driver: "There is. There's an option to set $2."

Passenger: "That's why I say I don't want to pay. You can drop me here because we also take Tada every time."

Driver: "And then you rather take the illegal way."

Passenger: "No."

Driver: "It's illegal."

Passenger: "It's illegal to you."

Driver: "It's not up to me. I'm following the law."

Passenger: "I also, you know..."

Driver: "Are you following the law? That's the thing."

Passenger: "I don't want to argue with you."

Driver: "Okay, we go police station to settle it."

Passenger: "You go ahead. If you want to make your life trouble like that, you go ahead. I don't want to involve this kind of thing. You can drop us here. Okay?"

Driver: "Okay, okay. Up to you. Good luck on next driver."

Passenger: "Of course. Thank you so much."

Driver: "Thank you, bye-bye."

A few netizens blame the other Tada drivers for giving the passenger the wrong impression about booster seats.

The Land Transport Authority states on its website: "For safety reasons, all vehicles in Singapore must have booster seats or child restraints for passengers under 1.35m in height.

"However, taxis are exempted from this rule because they can be street-hailed. Hence, it would not be reasonable to expect them to be equipped with booster seats and child restraints at all times, or to reject passengers with infants or children.

"In comparison, private hire cars, which must be pre-booked, allow passengers to indicate if they require booster seats or child restraints at the point of booking. This gives private hire car drivers sufficient advance notice to prepare accordingly."

Others noticed in the video that the driver was wearing shorts.

The guideline for Tada drivers is: "You shall always be properly and decently attired (at a minimum, you shall wear long trousers and covered shoes) and exhibit good mannerism as well as communicate with your passengers politely."

Stomp has contacted Tada for more info.