ALOR STAR: The mandatory Self Employment Scheme imposed on taxi drivers, e-hailing and private bus drivers is not intended to trouble the group but was instead created to protect them.
Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Mahfuz Omar said the scheme under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) provides incentives to safeguard the welfare of drivers and their family in the event of any unintended incident while at work.
“The law should not be seen as suppressing them but instead a protection for their families. However, some might still be unclear about this. As a result, Socso is intensifying efforts by going to every state to explain and spread information about the scheme.
“As of July 24, only 26,653 drivers nationwide have registered for the scheme and that figure was very much lower than the 318,283 private taxi, e-hailing and bus drivers we currently have in our country,“ he told reporters here today.
Earlier, he attended a dialogue session on the scheme with Kedah Taxi, Car Hire and School Bus Drivers Association, here.
Meanwhile, Mahfuz said although there were some complaints from the drivers during the dialogue session today, some of them were willing to contribute to the scheme after understanding its benefits.
He said among the complaints was the difficulty for the driver to come to Socso’s office each month to remit their contribution.
“So after the discussion, Socso and the drivers association agreed to meet once a month to make it easier for drivers to pay their contributions.
“But, I suggest that if the drivers cannot pay annually, they should at least make quarterly payment, because it would be difficult for the Socso officials to meet them every month due to lack of man power,“ he said. — Bernama
