E-hailing, hire car drivers now subject to same rules as taxi drivers: Najib

SERDANG: Beginning April 6, all e-hailing and hire car drivers have been required to adhere to the same conditions and regulations as taxi drivers to create fair competition among the services, according to Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
The Prime Minister said the rules included screening pertaining to their background, traffic offences, health, training requirements and periodic vehicle inspections.
"I realise that taxi drivers face many obstacles and challenges. I am aware that the income of taxi drivers has been somewhat affected by the existence of e-hailing services in our country.
"The e-hailing service has a demand but we have to do something through government intervention to protect the rice bowl of the taxi drivers," he said at the presentation of the 1Malaysia Taxi Assistance Card at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang, here today.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri and acting chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad were also present at the event which drew over 10,000 taxi drivers from around the country.
Najib said the Cabinet paper on the new rules for e-hailing services were presented by Nancy and SPAD and approved by the Cabinet on April 6.
"I instructed the enforcement through the gazetting which was done on the same day," he said to the applause of the taxi drivers present.
Taxi drivers approached by Bernama expressed support for the government move to enforce the rules so that e-hailing services could be regulated like the taxi service.
One of them, Ali Tahar, 58, said taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur were severely affected by e-hailing services over the past few years as the e-hailing drivers were not subject to the strict regulations that they adhered to.
"I used to drive the executive (blue) taxi but I was forced to return it because I could not pay up the RM13,000 debt. Now, my wife and I share the task of driving the 1Malaysia Taxi," he said.
Ali's wife, Salwa Samion, 48, said the enforcement of the new rules should be transparent and the e-hailing drivers should be required to carry an identification sticker on their vehicles, just like taxis.
"The Road Transport Department (JPJ) rules regard taxis as commercial vehicles because they carry passengers. However, e-hailing cars are private vehicles and there should be uniformity with the taxis," she said.
Noorhisham Mohamad, 32, said he had to sell one of his two taxis to buy a new car and run a e-hailing service over the past eight months because his income was affected by the introduction of the service.
"Right now I take turns to run a taxi and a Uber (e-hailing) service to make up for the loss of income. There is a big difference in the income compared to when I was just driving a taxi," he said.
Although he runs an e-hailing service, Noorhisham supported the introduction of the new rules because the service could be more effectively regulated.
Najib said since the implementation of individual taxi permits issuance to taxis drivers whose lease agreements ended, 2,533 taxi drivers had received their individual licences and 643 government cash grants worth RM3.215 million had been channeled to eligible recipients.
As the majority of drivers were not covered by insurance, Najib said, the government also provided a special government grant of RM60 million to initiate the implementation of a Social Security Organisation (Socso) scheme to provide protection to taxi drivers as announced in the 2017 Budget.
"Under this scheme, taxi drivers need to make a minimum contribution of RM157, at only RM13.08 a month. The scheme provides cash benefits to taxi drivers and their dependents in the event of unforeseen occurrences such as accidents by providing medical treatment, physical rehabilitation or vocational training," he said.
Najib said because of the government's concern for the people it launched inclusive programmes and incentives to assist taxi drivers nationwide and has always stuck to the principle that no Malaysian should be left behind in the country's development.
In the meantime, he also reminded all taxi drivers to play an important role in highlighting Malaysia's positive image to tourists as they were on the front line of the country's tourism industry.
"Be a taxi driver who is always friendly, honest and gives good service, then you can all be considered as Malaysia's 'little ambassadors'," he added. — Bernama