More resistance to Uber. The Metered Taxi Drivers Action Committee (Badan Bertindak Pemandu Teksi Bermeter, or BBPTB) has claimed that the mobile app-based transport provider’s services are threatening taxi drivers’ livelihoods, Bernama reports, with its chairman Amran Jan claiming the country is being overwhelmed by illegal taxis.
“Uber has violated a number of rules and regulations with regards to land public transport services. It is using private vehicles as taxis, and drivers who do not have the appropriate licence and driver’s card from the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to operate,” the national news agency quoted him as saying.
Amran further claimed that there are Uber vehicles which are not covered by the appropriate insurance, so passengers of such vehicles are not adequately protected in the event of an accident. Bernama reports that he has submitted a memorandum to Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad, who proposed that the issue be raised via a motion in the Dewan Rakyat.
The BBPTB chairman also suggested that the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission be given more jurisdiction over the matter, and urged SPAD to stop the issuance of private hire vehicle licences to protect the taxi industry.
SPAD has said that Uber’s operations will not be banned or suspended as long as the relevant public transport laws are complied with, but it has seized many vehicles found to be taking fares without the necessary licences or permits.
The Land Public Transport Act 2010 stipulates that vehicles registered under hire-and-drive are not allowed to offer taxi or limousine services, and drivers without a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence are not permitted to offer such services.
Under the same Act, drivers found guilty of unlicensed ferrying of passengers in privately-owned vehicles can face a fine of up to RM10,000 or a year in jail or both, while car companies can be fined up to RM100,000.
“Any vehicle used as taxis which collect fares from the public, must be in accordance of the law as stipulated in the Land Public Transport Act 2010. This means that the drivers must have the required Public Service License (PSV) and the vehicles must be registered with SPAD with proper insurance coverage for the protection of fare paying passengers,” the commission has said.
Malaysia isn’t the only roadblock Uber has faced, by far – the company has been on a collision course with public transport regulators and taxi operators in many cities across the globe. What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know in the comments below.
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This is not public again the public taxi, but ask the taxi driver what is their attitude when they serve rider?
We are consumer and we pay for the service. If you cannot compete with UBER, improve your service and make the market more competitive
to be fair to cab driver, they have to comply with all types of licensing and rules to be able to collect fare yet uber driver doesn’t have to follow any rules.
if government is to allow uber or its like to operate, then remove all the restriction on the cab driver.
however this will open a pandora box where anyone can drive a private car and start charging to carry anyone from the street.
uber should follow the same rule as cab driver if they want to operate.
exactly!!! The pandora’s box is already open!! Uber are privately owned cars fyi.. cabbies hv got no chance against Uber.. its just unfair competition!
How exactly do cabbies have no chance against Uber? What is the unfair competition aspect?
I know for a fact that most taxis especially independent once are maintained cheaply. Furthermore, some of them drive like hooligans while others are retirees driving at half the speed limit in the fast lane. Also let’s not forget that some taxis don’t use meters.
Most licenses are hold by cronies , not many drivers have own licenses. Further more, the taxis should be charged do dangerous driving since he car so broken down…
One thing to point out, with all the issues Uber and GrabCar are facing now, how can the company still operate and hire these “illegal” drivers?
Didn’t that ring a bell to you? For me, Uber and GrabCar creep up because there is a need for a reform in the taxi industry.
As we have all known, I am sure SPAD have received many complaints about irresponsible drivers charging above meter rate and other offences but still the disciplinary actions taken against them are not seen to be effective enough.
Talking about business competitiveness, definitely Uber and GrabCar has the upper hand to conquer the market – fixed rate, cleaner car, friendly drivers etc etc
Anyway, it is only with competition will service improvements follow suit.
u fail to explain that SPAD is the single most useless ‘government’ organisation there is in the whole wide world…
I dont want to make this topic political but in the end it still boils down corrupt government officials trying to make money from every single pie the can get their hands on.
You can’t put MyTeksi/Grabcar in the same box as Uber. It simply provides an online booking service to registered taxis who are willing to aceept their terms and conditions.
Been taking UBER a couple of times now and their services beats those red cabbies hands down.
So many taxi pakcik and uncles are now UBER drivers. Move over if you’re seriously considering making an honest living out of ferrying people around and not terrify public with thug tactics.
U’ve already painted a bad name for cabs in KL and now crying foul?
Shame on u red-cabbies!
Rides are cheaper, service better, no refusal on UberX!
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Despite the recent troubles of Uber around the globe recently, it is still way better than our local taxi. Our local taxi refuses to use meters, bad attitude and overcharging passengers. I took a taxi once from The Mines to Sungai Long cost me RM20-30, that’s short journey, with UberX I can go to KLCC with almost the same amount of money.
red cab drivers are lazy bunch. Want only easy work, but want money….Complain saja pandai…
Just look at the fat-ass cab drivers (their face oso damn ugly) outside universities….always take advantage of students by over-charging fare on students. And then, want easy money by driving to and fro from uni to shopping complexes. Never use taxi meter samor…
Please, red cab drivers….look at your self and attitude before speaking of others….
The red cab drivers are the curse of the country….
Say what you like about uber. No permit, no insurance and whatnot. But i feel so much safer in a private taxi. Cars in good condition, clean and courteous drivers. No haggling and talking cocks.
Compared to the public taxis, still using some old junk cars. Smells like shit, dirty and worn off seats. So what if covered with insurance? Prolly much higher risk compared to uber ones.
make the Uber a non-company based but a huge community instead and Uber users are member based, then the Uber passengers is no longer called as public, therefore Uber drivers no longer considered as ferrying public but instead their community members, then they are not able to charge under any laws stated above.
in short, public cab still can shout here and there like fishmonger to ferrying public but not Uber driver(pre-order basis or whichever ways they like within their community). fair enough?
call all the hookers in Bukit Bintang.. make a big community.. and… hahaha you know how it goes..
How old are u kid..? I’m guessing about 9?
I think taxi users should speak out against taxis that refuse to use the meter and equipment (vehicle) that is totally unsafe. I rather focus on prevention rather than having insurance. Of course as usual, rakyat diketepikan.
There’s an app for it now — to complain against taxi drivers who refuse to use meters.
There’s still no app for effective and proactive enforcement yet, unfortunately.
haha..when crony feel the heat. I pity the regular taxi driver. But i suggest you to change to uber. No need to pay daily fee to crony ma..
Those regular taxi drivers switching to uber will only destroy uber’s good reputation.
Biggest problem I hear from them is they don’t have money for the car, and yet you know how much the cronies charge the taxi drivers with such run down car? You be surprise..
Before they make complain, they should see the quality of the taxi driver, don’t simply potong people just because the consumer looks stupid, once you go Uber, you will never back to taxi.
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I choose what I want to take. What are you going to do with that?
Time and time again these taxi drivers miss the point. GET YOUR SERVICE UP TO SCRATCH. One of the worst taxi service in South East Asia. Lousy smelly cars, rude and smelly drivers, ripping people off for years. So no one cares about your livelihood. Lets be honest about that.
UBER will thrive in places where the taxi services are bad. Malaysia will be a great market for UBER! So to all the good taxi drivers who are a MINORITY, MOVE to UBER and get a better deal for your abilities. You’ll be held accountable by their ratings system and if you’re good, then good for you.
Just as many othe cronies and GLC business model in monopoly that does not accept market competition and providing lousy services , SPAD never hear the complain from customer vs taxi due to the broken down, bad behavior , fake Meyer, over charge meter…
But spending tons of time in killing the competitor using authority.
Proven that such weak business competitiveness will failed from protong and others…that why the county is suffering productivity problem in our economics..
Uber anytime, easily booked, good condition car, comfort, punctual in time.
Metered Taxi Drivers Action Committee??
But you don’t use your meter?? then how?
Until you do, you have no voice.
Why cant the public cab learn from Uber? Make own app for themselves (in fact they already have MyTaxi). I hate moments when I need to open the door and ask if they can pick me up to ABC location. With Uber, I can just pop in the car I requested without worrying about charges and safety.
red taxi drivers mostly arrogant!
they want the customers to follow them..choose their own route to charge higher…
with that attitude and BAD car condition…
UBER terbaekk!! they even provide Famous Amos cookies in new Honda City…
It is sad looking at people instead of embracing new tech, they protest against it, in the end of the day it comes down to the passengers, Uber is an upstart, they offer a good service at a reasonable price, why can’t mr red taxi step up and compete? lower their prices or improve their cabs?
couple days back on a weekday noon, took a cab from Midvalley to Jalan Gasing, cabbies either ask for a flat rm30 or simply refuse to send
Uber fella in a decent Preeve took me there for rm12.40
“The Metered Taxi Drivers Action Committee (Badan Bertindak Pemandu Teksi BABI, or BBPTB)”
WHO IS ILLEGAL NOW? Taxi who do does haggling most of the time or UBER who is so systematic charging using credit card? UBER is so much cheaper and yet, their quality is so much better too! At least UBER has serious quality control and constant checks on the condition of the vehicles (even a small dent on the car is not allowed to go on the road). Each UBER rides allows the passenger to rate/leave commend; driver will be terminated once their average rating falls below 2 stars. And yet, have the Taxi committee done anything when consumers complained about haggling, dangerous driving and bad attitude?
What would you choose? To sit inside a dirty & smelly Proton Saga OR Toyota Vios/ Honda City? I even came across with Jaguar XJL with UBER Lux service.
Metered Taxi Drivers Action Committee?
or they mean “No-Use-Meter” Taxi Drivers Action Committee?
I thought there was a big fuss last year on this exact same matter, and that it was already resolved by the relevant authorities. What has changed since then? Or was it never properly resolved?
Don’t bother to leave any hope on them to ‘resolve’ the problem. Malaysians tend to forget things easily after awhile. lol
Uber is a ride chauffeuring service among Uber member only. All transaction is cashless. I can say I’m fetching my friend which is not against the law
Those taxi should look at their service quality provided. Driving like crazy, no signal, using emergency lane on traffic jam.
~ MyTeksi is good but the taxi condition mostly are not good.
~ Very hard to get a taxi by the roadside. Even you find one and does not guarantee they will pick you.
~ You might see a lot of Taxi in MyTeksi app but they don’t pick you when distant is too near.
~ uber is not always good, I have cases whereby the driver don’t know the route even explain very clearly.
“Uber vehicles which are not covered by the appropriate insurance, so passengers of such vehicles are not adequately protected in the event of an accident” how about iswara no air bags? u call safelty?
With uber..you’d be guaranteed a pickup and delivered to your destination.
With cabbies..we need to ask first
“Bang..klcc pegi ke?”
It is like we had to beg them to take our money for substandards services.
Try getting a cab in klcc.they’d give all sorts of nonsense if you are locals. They only take foreigners or tourists.
UBER is so unfair. How can these smelly ill-tempered thugs compete with something that prioritises the customer experience? Happy customers looking for the best option? Can’t have that!
Welcome to competition. If you are lousy at your job, EVERYTHING will affect your livelihood. That’s how the real world works. Get another job if you’re not up to it.