Systems that could be abused for fradulent charges in around 9,000 cabs have since been changed 

 

TAXI fraud cases in Australia reported earlier this month were the work of cab drivers and not its subsidiary taxi company A2B, said ComfortDelGro Group chief executive officer Cheng Siak Kian on Thursday (Feb 27).

 

Cheng, who was speaking to the media at a financial results briefing for ComfortDelGro : C52 +1.44%(CDG), said that the fraud was &ldquo pre-existing&rdquo in the Australian taxi industry.

 

&ldquo What we&rsquo re talking about is driver fraud. It&rsquo s not A2B or 13Cabs as a company,&rdquo he said.

 

A2B, one of the largest land transport operators in Australia, was acquired by CDG in April 2024. A2B&rsquo s subsidiaries include the taxi operator 13Cabs and taxi payment system provider Cabcharge Payments.

 

13Cabs is Australia&rsquo s largest taxi operator.

 

Australian TV programme 60 Minutes, as well as the The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers reported earlier in February on widespread fraud that has been carried out for years.

 

The scams were perpetrated by manipulating vulnerabilities in the terminal and payment systems that A2B provides, as well as Cabcharge products that are used by government agencies, companies, hospitals, and other health and disability services.

 

Cheng said that one type of abuse involved unlinked taxi meters and point-of-sale (POS) systems, which allowed drivers to input their own fraudulent charges on top of the metered fare.

 

This is unlike Singapore, where the meter and POS are regulated and required to be linked, and the fares cannot be keyed in manually.

 

Since May 2024, the unlinked systems in all 13Cabs taxis &ndash around 9,000 of them &ndash have since been replaced, he said.

 

&ldquo While the same payment system is also used by other taxi companies&hellip we cannot force them to be (linked) to the meter, because that is anti-competitive,&rdquo he added.

 

Major clients have been consulted and were &ldquo quite happy&rdquo with steps taken to reduce potential fraud.

 

A2B stated in February that it had included two-factor authentication on Cabcharge cards, introduced direct meter integration for accurate fare recording, and required all payments to go through the taxi meter.

 

CDG chairman Mark Greaves said, &ldquo We acquired (A2B) in April, and starting from May&hellip we were able to really drive down this particular kind of malpractice&hellip It&rsquo s our way of doing things. We have absolutely zero tolerance for any kind of dirty doing.&rdquo

 

Responding to BT queries earlier in February, an A2B spokesperson said it &ldquo categorically rejects the false and misleading claims made by 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that the company benefits from fraud.&rdquo

 

The media platforms that reported on the matter are owned by Nine Entertainment. The Australia-based media company declined The Business Times&rsquo request for comment.