ZoukOut may be the most anticipated annual beach party here, but the event had ended on a sour note for some partygoers trying to hail a cab home.
Last year, it took events manager Elvin Koh more than two hours to get home from Siloso Beach in Sentosa, where the party was held. The 34year-old waited over an hour from 4am to get a cab at the Beach Station taxi stand.
He recalls: "The cabs at the taxi stand had 'Hired' signs turned on but no one inside. They were not picking up anyone in the queue."
Instead, the drivers chose their customers. These were mainly the limousine cabs and blue Comfort taxis, say several partygoers.
Mr Koh says: "They wound down the windows to ask where we were heading. Some cabbies picked up foreigners who negotiated fares."
His attempts to book a cab were unsuccessful and hopping on the "overcrowded" and "uncomfortable" free shuttle bus was not an option. He eventually hitched a ride from a friend at 5.30am.
Revellers whom Life! interviewed say the taxi situation was a "spoiler" and "dampener" to the ZoukOut experience.
This year's party on Dec 13 at Siloso Beach is presented by SingTel and organised by Zouk.
With the party drawing over 20,000 people each in the last two years, the dusk-to-dawn event appears to be a cash cow for taxi touts.
Zouk has not received any complaints about them at ZoukOut, but marketing manager Tracy Phillips is aware that some cabbies charge a flat rate of $30 from Sentosa.
When contacted, Sentosa's spokesman Guenevere Cordeiro says rangers from the security department stepped in last year to warn errant cabbies not to tout and to leave the premises if they persisted. The rangers will be on duty again this year at the Beach Station and Siloso Point taxi stands.
She adds: "Sentosa is also working closely with the Land Transport Authority to step up enforcement on the ground and take touts to task."
Ms Phillips says cab companies are informed every year about Zouk's one-day closure on Jiak Kim Street for ZoukOut so that drivers can go to Siloso Beach to pick up passengers.
Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer of ComfortDelGro Corporation, which operates the largest fleet here with 15,000 Comfort and CityCab taxis, says all ComfortDelGro drivers have been told that touting is a serious offence and to charge only by the metered fare.
The company will not hesitate to take action against drivers caught picking and choosing passengers.
She adds: "We have stepped up checks on touting at hotspots such as Clarke Quay and Boat Quay, which have seen a significant drop in touting activity. We will include spot checks in Sentosa and keep a close eye on the next ZoukOut to make sure there will not be a touting issue."
Mr Lim Chong Boo, managing director of Premier Taxis, which has 2,200 cabs, says: "Commuters should not board taxis that charge a flat rate as it only encourages them to tout."
He suggests that the event organisers provide a big sign with the phone numbers of all the taxi call centres at the taxi stands so commuters can call if they have difficulty hailing a cab.
Currently, only ComfortDelGro and SMRT numbers are listed at the Beach Station and Siloso Point taxi stands.
Touts face a fine of $500, 12 demerit points and a four-week suspension if they are caught soliciting for customers.
On Dec 13, Sentosa's free bus service will run round the clock. It will run at 10-minute intervals between HarbourFront and Beach Station.
