Doubts over block on Uber, Grab

PETALING JAYA: Hotels would be foolish to allow only one taxi company to pick up or drop off passengers at their premises.
Such arrangements would be detrimental to business as no single taxi company can provide all the required services, said a hotel industry source.
Having such exclusivity would also mean guests using taxis from other companies being dropped off on the main road and made to walk to the hotel.
This was in response to claims by Big Blue Taxi Facilities Sdn Bhd founder Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail, who claimed the company had exclusive tie-ups with various hotels and shopping malls.
Shamsubahrin was quoted by theSun last week as saying that e-hailing service providers such as Uber and GrabCar are not allowed to provide pick-up services at some hotels and malls.
Shamsubahrin claimed Zalnas Limousine Sdn Bhd, a member of the Naza Group, had an exclusive arrangement and these rights were sub-contracted to his company.
Asked for formal documents on the arrangement, Shamsulbahrin sent copies of letters from Zalnas. The letter, signed by its vice-president Suradi Haji Sulaiman, stated that taxis from Big Blue and five other companies could pick up passengers from the hotels.
However, he could not produce any agreements or contracts with the hotels and instead provided invoices issued to taxi companies for special stickers costing RM400 each.
The Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur, one of the locations quoted by Shamsulbahrin, rubbished the claim that Big Blue has an agreement that entitled its taxis exclusive rights at the hotel.
"We can confirm there was never an agreement between the Ritz Carlton and Big Blue Taxi," said Ritz Carlton spokesman Natalie Hay.
General manager of Sunway Putra Hotel Christopher Bong said the hotel had an agreement with Prestigelimo, a company owned by Naza Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd, which provides chauffeured limousine services.
However, Bong stressed that the hotel has no restrictions on their guests' choice of transportation.
"We have no problems with our guests using Uber or Grab services", he said.
Bong added that Shamsubahrin's claims were unnecessary and the matter will be brought to the attention of Prestigelimo.
Sunway Putra Mall general manager Phang Saul Lian confirmed the mall has no affiliation with Big Blue Taxi.
Calls to Suraidi and other officials from Zalnas Limousine and Naza Ventures were not returned.