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Starting next month, Singapore commuters can use their EZ-Link contactless transit cards to pay for taxi fares, according to public transport service provider SMRT Corp. EZ-Link is a multipurpose contactless prepaid card that consumers can use to pay for buses and train fares and for goods at select merchants. SMRT plans to install EZ-Link contactless readers in 600 taxis by the end of the month and in another 3,000 taxis by March, the company says in a statement. SMRT will apply a 10-cent "administrative" charge to each fare paid with the contactless card. SMRT will waive the fee, however, until 2010 to encourage use of the card, the company says. EZ-Link is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Land Transport Authority and has issued more than 10 million cards in the country.
