Socso to draft self-employed act for taxi drivers

IPOH: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) will draft a new Act, known as the Self-Employed Act to administer Socso schemes for taxi drivers nationwide.
Socso chief executive Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said if the bill was passed, taxi drivers would enjoy the same benefits as other workers under the Contract of Service scheme.
He said the bill was still in the drafting process and was expected to be tabled in Parliament early next year.
"This scheme can secure the future and wellbeing of taxi drivers who previously had to buy insurance policies on their own," he told a news conference after the Socso Deepavali celebration 2016 here today.
The event was officiated by state Human Resources, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya. Also present were Socso Board Chairman Datuk Abu Huraira Abu Yazid and Perak Socso director Noorhanita Mohamad.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak when tabling the 2017 Budget recently, announced a Socso scheme to individual taxi drivers with a monthly income of up to RM3,000 through an allocation of RM60 million.
Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said under the scheme, taxi drivers were required to contribute between RM157 and RM443 per annum which is only RM13.08 a month.
According to Mohammed Azman, a total of 73,000 taxi drivers across the country would benefit from the scheme.
In the meantime, he was expecting an increase of 500,000 new active workers to be registered, bringing the total registered employees to 6.5 million.
"So far, 6.4 million workers have registered with Socso nationwide with Perak recorded the highest number of 1.2 million people," he said.
At the event, Shahrul Zaman also presented Socso benefits cheques to 10 recipients and handed over hampers and "duit raya" of RM100 each to 80 single mothers and orphans in conjunction with the upcoming Deepavali celebration. — Bernama