THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) has added 10 more taxi stands in the central business district, ahead of new rules that will bar cabbies from picking up or dropping off passengers outside the queuing spots.

There are now 105 taxi stands in the CBD, or roughly one within 300m of every building in the district, the LTA said in a statement on Thursday.

From next week, cabbies face penalties if they do not pick up or drop off passengers at these stands. They can be fined $100 and given three demerit points.

The new rule applies between 7am and 10pm from Mondays to Saturdays, except for public holidays. The initiative is part of LTA's grand scheme to improve traffic flow and speed up bus services.

The move 'will reduce the number of taxis driving into bus lanes to pick up passengers or indiscriminately stopping along the roads and disrupting the flow of traffic', the LTA said.

Mr Yang Ban Seng, chief executive of ComfortDelGro Corp's taxi busines, said: 'We hope that commuters will appreciate that our taxi-drivers cannot now just stop anywhere along the roads on their request, and seek their understanding, especially on rainy days,' he said.

The 10 new stands are in Canning Rise, Carpenter Street, Connaught Drive, Duxton Road, Hoe Chiang Road, North Canal Road, Queen Street, Stamford Road, Tan Quee Lan Street and Teo Hong Road.