Triggered by the recent case of a 26-year old woman who suffered a miscarriage a week after being robbed at knifepoint by an Uber driver, the authorities are putting more scrutiny on app-based ride hailing operators Uber and Grab. Soon, the vetting of drivers will be done by the authorities, the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) said.
Currently, the screening of drivers is done by Uber and Grab themselves, but that task will be handed over to agencies like the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and police, according to SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar in a report by The Star.
“It is of utmost urgency as there have been various incidents and we are getting more and more reports. We are very concerned and want the laws to be passed in Parliament as soon as possible,” he told the daily.
“They told us that they have a good screening system in place with background checks done with the police and JPJ. Obviously, this has not been followed accordingly,” said Syed Hamid, who was “very upset” over the incident.
The SPAD chief said that under the proposed amendments to the Land Transport Act 2010 and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987, the commission would be able to ask Uber and Grab for their driver database.
“We will then cross-check the drivers’ backgrounds with the police and JPJ before they are given their drivers’ badges. There may be some delay in the process due to bureaucracy, but it must be done to ensure passenger safety,” he said.
The proposed amendments were tabled for first reading in Parliament back in March, and the process will continue in the house’s upcoming July sitting.
Earlier, minister in the prime minister’s department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said that when the ride hailing regulations are passed by Parliament, Uber and Grab will have to be responsible for practising a high level of safety and service standards. “A robbery happened despite the driver having his details recorded, so we want to take into account that when the bill is approved what safety features need to be tightened with the service operator,” she said.
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Just make sure to charge Grabuber for our gov agencies servis. They must not freeload and not pay taxes, especially when not from MY!
Can cross-check police and JPJ officer?
What means? Alredi mention JPJ and polis will be checking the drivers profile, when they dun actually need to do so.
Now the drivers quality have dropped. Too many of them and many are short term.
That is ex-taxi driver that suffer cause takde sape mau naik taxi driver
SPAD ponya pasal. JPJ & PDRM lebey kelija…SHA lepas tangan laa. hiihkikhi
hopefully this process will ensure that later on cases like this will never happen…
In Indonesia, if one were to join Grab or Uber, one must get a statement from the police to prove that they have no prior records before they can join
So damn ridiculous. Taxi drivers have been robbing , raping , and cheating passengers for so long and how come we never see the so called vetting and screening for them?
Something which is running better, gov itchy to get involve. Is there flawless in anything? Even police also has bad record(if u know what I mean)
Nope. How was Grabuber running better? They had cases of drivers misdemeanors all over the world. Leaving it alone… now that wud be stupido.
The public can never trust private companies or even government agencies on matters relating to public safety since profits and ease of doing business or work are their main priorities.
Trust urself. Ride a legal public transport.
My surprise is that it was not done much earlier since it involves passenger/customer safety and security.
I would say this is sabotage. Either the victim or robber or both are mentally low capacity.
Uber and grab have full records of each driver – their IC, photo, insurance, licence. How in the world would anyone who is sane commit a crime as a driver? you’ll be caught instantly!
You can do all the vetting, but there is one maniac who did this robbery. well two. in 3 years uber and grab have become normal with millions of rides and this one maniac will stop everything.the key here is that all the records are available. the one in a million numbskull who dares to commit crimes will immediately be arrested!
The purpose of screening is to not let any unwanted happen before it could happen. If you think that all records are there with uber or grab, what they can do best? They dont have access to JPJ/PDRM records to look up their past track-record. What they can do, act after things happen. Prevention is better than cure.
Bizzare argument. You have licensing and vetting and hurdles for taxi drivers, and even every single licensed driver on the road. Does that prevent accidents, road rage, murder? When you conduct vetting for security guards, teachers, any public-facing officer, does that prevent rape and murder? Its delusional to put a higher burden on Uber/Grab when they have done more than other transport providers to keep records on their drivers. Does the vetting and record-keeping by every single company in the world result in zero crimes committed?
Fuhh!! Tiba2 SPAD and gomen wayang kuat… thumbs up!
@Kuka agree with you, like to add something though ‘better late than never’ and ‘do not cry over spilt milk’.
last time uber used to have a mandatory 45 minutes briefing. nowadays no more briefing and any tom dick and harry can just drive.
that’s why a lot of bad apples are now onboard.
Correct and agree the vetting on drivers. If it goes the same to rider then it also secure the driver safety.
They should screen all the commercial vehicles too! Express bus, limo, cabbies, lorries and etc!