Matta calls on authorities to confiscate private vehicles carrying fare-paying passengers

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) has called on enforcement agencies to confiscate private vehicles used for carrying fare-paying passengers, including those using apps such as Uber and GrabCar.
Its ground transportation vice-president, S. Jaya Kumar said not just metered taxis, but tour and transport operators using licensed vehicles were affected with the ride-hailing apps services.
"The lack of enforcement on ride-hailing apps using private vehicles has escalated to the quagmire we are now in and will grow worse without effective intervention," he said in a statement here, today.
Jaya Kumar said many possibilities could occur when using private vehicles including that of insurance companies that won't cover injured passengers in the event of accidents.
On safety aspects, he said private vehicle drivers were allowed to roam free and the only contact transportation network companies have with the drivers and passengers was through the mobile apps downloaded to the phones.
"These mobile apps cannot track the whereabouts of the vehicles, only the phones ... as such the drivers may not necessarily be the persons registered with the app, posing a security risk," he said.
According to Jaya Kumar, under the motor tariff and excluding the cover for the first RM1,000 sum insured, the premiums for each subsequent amount were RM26 for private cars, RM69.80 (ordinary taxis), RM102.50 (liomusine taxis) and RM122.10 (hire and drive vehicles) respectively.
The figures alone, he said, showed that tour operators using limousine taxis and hire and drive vehicles were paying motor insurance 3.9 or 4.7 times higher than private cars. — Bernama