All taxi and e-hailing drivers must contribute towards Socso from Nov 1: Kula

IPOH: All taxi and e-hailing drivers will have to contribute towards the Social Security Organisation (Socso) from Nov 1, said Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran (pix).
He said only five percent (5,197) out of 100,000 of these drivers are currently covered by Socso and many more are not registered.
He said the mechanism to get them to register with Sosco was still being fine-tuned with the Transport Ministry.
"Probably these drivers will have to show proof that contribution is being made to Socso, before their licenses, or registration as taxis or e-hailing drivers are renewed.
"This is the process we are looking at, but it is yet to be finalised, we have also held discussions with taxi associations and e-hailing drivers about this issue," he said after opening the state Socso's seminar at the Perak secretariat building here on Sunday.
He added that the Transport Ministry would be making an announcement on the mechanism to be used soon.
Asked on action to be taken against drivers who failed to register with Socso, Kulasegaran said there was a possibility that their licences would not be renewed.
"We want to assist these drivers, and not make things difficult for them," he added.
Kula said the ministry is not interested in penalising these drivers and we hope that we do not reach a stage where we have to take action against them.
Sosco chief executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said the contribution is between RM157.20 and RM592.80 per year, and the coverage depends on the scale the drivers choose.
He said drivers who have contributed to the scheme will receive benefits based on the scale they have chosen if anything untoward happens to them.