About 30,000 taxis apparently lie abandoned around the country as a result of their drivers having been driven out of business by ride-hailing services, Utusan Malaysia reports. The story adds that only around 40,000 taxis reportedly remain in operation at present, well down from the 120,000 that were running before the emergence of ride-hailing, with 80,000 drivers having stopped operating their cabs due to insufficient income.
The Malay daily did not cite the source for the statistics, but quoted a taxi drivers’ group called Gabungan Teksi Malaysia (GTSM) as saying this was due to the gulf in fares offered by taxis and ride-hailing services. According to the association’s chairman Kamarudin Hussain, the disparity in fares had driven consumers towards the cheaper ride-hailing service, something which he blamed the government for.
“When the government doesn’t control the rate of service for ride-hailing, it will cause problems for taxi drivers. Ride-hailing companies are racing with each other to get customers until they compromise the fares. When that happens, the rates will become very cheap. So, certainly customers will use ride-hailing and no passengers want to ride taxis,” he was quoted as saying.
He added that the low fares provided by ride-hailing applications were also taking a toll on their drivers.
“This situation victimises e-hailing drivers because it also affects their pay and income that they obtain every day,” he was quoted as saying in the report, which was picked up by the Malay Mail.
Kamarudin said that the government doesn’t need to enact new laws to solve the problem. “If the amendment to the land public transport act 2010 that was passed in April last year can be enforced, I think it could solve this problem because the act has the power to stop the reduction of fares by the ride-hailing companies,” he said.
“The government can set a floor price for ride-hailing services, and it can be adjusted parallel to taxi services. As how the government adjusted the taxi fares years ago, the same can be done to the e-hailing industry. If this can be implemented, I am certain all citizens that in the transport industry can ‘find food’ fairly and harmoniously,” he explained.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
You are out of business not because the gov didn’t control the ride-hailing fares. It’s the gov failure to control taxis from taking passengers for joyride that is causing their downfall. Anyway it’s good the taxis are out of business, we don’t hear joyride issue anymore.
Yeah time for all of you Grab haters to show your devotion to your hatred by supporting these taximen. Stop complaining about Grab drivers being lazy & demanding higher salaries when you are relying on them for service just coz you don’t want to use taxis. You are really asking for the cake, eat it, and demanding for refund after finishing it.
That is just too much laa picky & calculative Msians!!!
Not that taxi driver don’t have income. They don’t run meter as per regulation. Not true? Go check johor CIQ, they asking fee up to $58 in midnight which normally daily rate is $18. If you take grab $14 from CIQ to Taman molek. The taxi driver rather sit there and play chess. Pls bare in mind, you pay such amount money, you still need share with other passengers because the taxi driver use car poll strategy. So they are earning a lot more. If you ask me, should dismantle the taxi stand because it is vacant and took up so much place meanwhile the crowd squeeze right in front CIQ entrance.
The taxi drivers should follow China’s style. Many taxi drivers there faced the same issue many years ago and finally they join uber/didi also while driving their normal taxi. They basically work for 2-3 companies at a time. Like that they won’t miss the boat. In fact they get more customers than grab or uber drivers. More options = more customers
Why wanna use taxi and support them? When they themselves don’t even bother to turn on the meter and follow the rates there. When they quote crazy amount of fare because apparently the destination is far away out of their route/many cars/many people/popular tourist spot?
I would honestly not be surprised at both the decline in business and blaming ride hailing services. When taxi drivers prefer to wait around and tout exorbitant prices rather than what they are intended to do, naturally your competition would eat you up, it’s just a matter of time when. If drivers on ride hailing can make a profit with their so-called low fare, why not you. Probably time to reflect on the decades old practice of touting for easy money, rather than just complaining.
These (poor) taxi drivers are forced to pay exorbitant instalments of their car to the agency they get the permit from. they usually end up moneyless or with very little funds for themselves. please make a small talk to the mostly nice drivers to understand their situation. It’s too easy to make comments nowadays.
cronies making money from the poor!!…
this daily rental practice should be stopped. Taxi drivers should be independent of these companies!
No, we cant survive if continue low rates like doing charity! Our car need to do service every 2mths at least. If continue like tht, i can foresee many drivers may skip the regular service or opt for lower price/ quality parts. So many cars will bcome like “taxi” condition.Talk is cheap, u try to do then u know. Some users said rate xpensive, but tht only applied during peak hour which is only 1/3 of the day. Remaining of the day r mostly too low!
Then regulate the fares and fees, not blaming it on Grab and their drivers. They got their business model right. Taxi associations should learn from them.
anything reported by Utusan Malaysia, you got to take the news with a pinch of salt. the paper is known for being unreliable.
yes, like the “pardon issue”…
sorry cabby drivers, you don’t get my sympathy at all. i have numerous encounters with the bad cabby attitude before the ehailing… now don’t cry baby.
They brought it upon themselves, even if taxi cost less, with the quality of their fleets, service and sketchy business practice? No wonder they’re out of business, I know maybe there’s still some honest taxi drivers, but you guys can only blame it on your fellow taxi drivers!
As ehailing driver, the rates are too low.As low as rm4!! Like our car using water & no need to maintain! These platforms r treating us poorly as their driver partner! Remember, we r using our OWN property to do, and they just provide the platform. If there is no rate revision, even ehailing driver will stop doing coz not worth it. Customers just want cheap & demand good quality & service, they dont care abt our suffering. We r like doing charity now! I rather they hike the rate in exchange of quality customer rather than qty!
just quit driving la. what’s the problem? if cannot get another job, then sell nasi lemak while further education to get MBA or PHD. be more proactive la.
how do u know tht those doing ehailing not proactive? im 50+ but still taking a degree course parttime, got fulltime job while doing ehailing as well. Even some drivers r the same. I got option, but how bout those w/o option, like over 60yrs old /fulltime driver/etc?
at 60 years old they should be retiring at home la. still toil so hard for what? They are toiling for the mistake that they have done which cause them not to be financially self-sufficient during old age. they should blame themselves and not the e-hailing or government.
Now u can talk loud, let see how well u do when u reach tht age. Life got up & down. And they did not blame any1, they just want a reasonable rate to survive & sustain. So u mean 60yr old has no right to work for a living?
I am 50+. Retired early and now i just do whatever i want to do. I am not super rich. Drive a 10 years old City, stay in a decent condo apartment (not the high end one). If one is not financially free at 60, means they have made bad decisions in their lives, or bad luck or a combo of all factors. Honestly, 60 years old+ is dangerous to be on the road all day. They will posed a danger to themselves and others. I just saw an old man, maybe around 70, driving yesterday like turtle on the highway, if i am like that, i really don’t want to be on the road. I don’t even want to drive long distance to outstation nowadays. The gov should promote and encourage companies to hire these old folks, like Singapore where it is the norm. But getting them on the road? That is not a solution.
it’s the survival of the fittest. if u can’t play the game, chose another game. e hailing has this flexibility.
Agreed.. that’s why I quit doing e hailing..fares are too low.
Fare is too low,cost of meantenance is going up,ehailing Commission ranging from 20%,15% and 10% should equalise the Commission say flat rate of 5%.at current rate ehailing company making money drivers loosing. Yet ehailing yearly insurance increased from RM325.00 to RM1825.00. It’s provide 0 benefits to the driver either or passenger upon untoward incident happened.
So, if business not profitable, don’t do. Easy only. You think only cab driver and ehailing driver has it tough? Everyone has it tough. They don’t bising like cab driver eventhough salary < RM2K. So much entitlement. If you think it's bad business and still doing, means you have no other skills or not willing to move out from your comfort zone. Some people selling nasi lemak also doing good business, including degree holders. What's your excuse?
I don’t understand why can’t the taxi drivers be part of the E-Hailing services. Perhaps it is against the law or their company? I’ve seen taxis that are also on multiple e-hailing platforms in many other countries. So what is stopping the taxi drivers from benefiting from the “benefits” that they complain about?
small profit margin
This taxi driver should learn from Thai.They need to change along with tech. I’m using the same grab apps to book grab tuk tuk at hatyai.
you have earn in this scam way for one or two decade or more , please enjoy your retirement and shut up now.
that’s what happen when you can’t fight fair and square. keep wanting to be ‘protected’. in the past, where you monopoly the business, but did you protect the users? meterless charging, driver choosing favorite route/spot to fetch/drop.. u need to change your business model.. if not, look at Nokia handphone. why Nokia is out of business. think.
There it is. Asking for tongkat from government again.
Should have improve your service instead of complaining about how Grab took your business away.
I remember one time I book a grab at KTM Batang Benar station, Negeri Sembilan. When my driver arrived, he was forced to stop far away from the station. Since when the taxis have the right to conquer the station?!!! What was even more upsetting when i lodge a police report because i was harassed by the taxi drivers, the police officer said “yang sepatutnya datang report tu grab driver bukan awak”
Last sunday from Pavi to Medan Tuanku
All taxi drivers no meter RM30. Walking to McD Bkt Bintang taxi driver offer RM40 for same distance. Wait 20 mins for GRAB RM12.30.
They are choosy about “rezeki”…
Taxi drives and taxi associations. Do you think asking for ride hailing operators to increase prices to match yours will get sympathy from anyone? No consumers and public in general will support your cause.
If the gov is imposing too much operating fees (I doubt), work towards reducing them. If the rental & insurance companies charges you high, find out why. Negotiate / discuss with them.
You should work towards reducing your fees. Not the other way around.
I seldom comment, but his one I MUST.
No mercy for cab driver…NEVER…even for next life.
After all the years of torment by them.
I don’t want to see the remaining 40,000 Taxis as well.
No sympathy, sorry. I still get PTSD from the pandan or keretek smell.
Majority of the taxi drivers are rude, arrogant. Overcharging, lousy car condition. Can’t pity them really. The system is broken. Too many layers wanna to make money of it. How do you expect them (tax drivers) to survive ha. Last time hv to beg them to pick up. Don’t even want to come to pickup if the fare is not favorable to them. Of course, there are good ones (very rare) which I don’t mind paying them extras. Then came e-hailing, what a world of differences. No nonsense, transparent pricing. This “tongkat” mentality of taxi driver is shameless.
Yep. Remember one time, we took taxi from KLIA2 airport after we landed using AirAsia. The cab driver like very impatient because it was late and he seems to be in a hurry. If you are in a hurry, you shouldn’t be taking up this call! The whole ride back home, it was scarier than on the plane!
The faster taxi become extinct, the faster eHailing ride can increase price. Consumer won’t mind paying higher price as long as it’s fair and service guaranteed. No more waiting at road side flagging down a taxi that refuse to take you because your destination traffic jam. Then refuse to use meter and charge suka hati.
Go to Hartamas. In front of AmBank. Look at the taxi drivers there sitting for hours on end wait for passengers. Waste time, waste opportunity, and then ask for support. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
You won’t be successful just depending on tongkat, my friend. The world has changed. When will you?
Do you still remember how many of us were scammed by taxi drivers and we dreaded having them vanished by the Uber and Grab
We:
1. Were touted and Paid more than what was on the machine counter
2. Were Refused to stop at the right drop point
3. Were Asked you to cross the road as the other side was heavy with traffic
4. Were Not refunded with silly excuses like no small change
5. Were refused to be served due to traffic jam
Ask anyone who tried using the taxis before GRAB was available… How’s the experience?
1. Preventing fetching at Serdang KTM station then charging per head RM10 for a ride that’s suppose to be about RM8 per cab.
2. Refusing to take passenger from Bukit Jalil LRT to Puchong. I have to talk and beg them until finally after begging more than 20 taxis i found one which he said I’m in luck cause he want to go back Puchong for dinner but I have to pay RM50 for a ride that’s suppose to be about RM18.
3. None negotiable exorbitant price at Pudu station and sharing of cab when paying for 1 cab and refuse to start driving until full.
and the list goes on….
They kill themselves…
The honest ones are very few… too few to even count.
I myself have never met one in my life so far.
No sympathy for them at all.
we need to learn to pardon them too.
Well Utusan is just highlighting that their cronies from Uxxx party are the ones who are losing. They are the ones holding the taxi-permits. So they are the ones who were profiteering. Taxi drivers just rent from them the taxi and the license to drive and have to pay daily rates.
my hatred for taxi drivers are extreme. i dont even use justgrab, i pay more to get normal grab cars. dont blame me when all of you screwed me over when i needed taxi before. we can say there are honest ones, like 1 in 1000 taxis? i need to cycle through 999 before i get another honest one? no thank you. you all brought it upon yourselves and im so happy that your numbers are diminishing and hope it will turn to zero and never return.
Go ahead.
Even if calling a grab car is the same price as a taxi, I will still call a grab car.
I don’t take taxis coz I don’t trust them anymore. Most taxis charge fares as they like and not according to the metres. At least, Grab spells up front what the charges are and whether we agree it’s a fair charge before taking them on. Some taxi drivers take advantage of their passengers too. And Grab is more dependable when we need transportation.
Very rare to find a good taxi driver, they have bad attitude and charge you for to and fro of the ride, and just silly prices, I hope all taxi company good out. Ehailing is the way to go
It’s the stupid govt not wanting to abolish the old taxi permits given to b*£&ard crony company who then charge rm60-100 a day for poor taxi drivers to pay to use that permit… Why not abolish this stupid practice and just issue permit to each driver individually without individual having to pay some bloody crony bas£#rd who makan atas angin… Then you will see taxis revived again and chances are these drivers will also enrol into ehailing platform (we need more than 1 reliable ehailing platform for competition) too which in turn bring prices down as there will be more drivers around and in turn improve last mile connectivity…
All taxi drivers wont survive if they are driving for someone else or using taxi permits belonging to a third party. This is how it ends up to every day need to pay rm50 to taxi companies. Whether you are good or sick.
Many taxi drivers still holding on strong are those with own permits and using their own cqrs. It could be an old Camry, Waja Or Mercedes benz
Good riddance. Taxi drivers are mostly thugs that only offer customers a “take it or leave it” service. 9 out of 10 times, they will cover their meter with a cloth or switch it off outright. You have a luggage bag and need a 5 minute ride to the railway station? That’ll be RM25. Take it or leave it. With Grab, we’ve left these thugs long ago. Just let these companies shut down for good
These taxis has been used by politicians and rich
datos who hold thousands of licences and the real taxi drivers are made to sweat at their wims and fancy. serve them right. Now with ehailing the public have a choice. Just ask the president of the taxi association to show how many taxi drivers own their licence and prehaps you can open a can of worms. It is Karma that they are now suffeting
indeed msia taxi is one of the kind..but this e hailing is destroying s.e.a good taxi drivers..not just Msia…
Being 60 and driving grab doesnt mean they have no money and have to work hard because did not save enough… with the rising cost of things why not make a few extra dollars rather than sitting down spending your life saving while you still are fit and healthy… you maybe one of those lucky ones who earns a ton of money now but what the future holds no one knows,always better to be safe than sorry.
Taxi driver got to change la. All over the world is using ehailing. They need to change the way they operate. Not to limit e hailing. If e hailing can make money why cant taxi driver. One question to ask these taxi driver..if their family is traveling, they prefer their family to pay more or pay less for transportation?
Taxi in Malaysia doesn’t want to use meter fare and they over charged the passengers
I don’t feel sorry for them. They still want to charge exorbitantly. From pekeliling bus station to mitec they wanted to charge RM30. Grab was RM10. In Bangkok taxis using meter would sometimes end up cheaper than Grab. But in Malaysia taxis are cut throat, don’t want to use meter. Killing their own business. When will they understanfd this and always expecting protection from government.
Before e-hailing were introduced, Malaysian taxis were rated the worst on the planet. They have been known to cheat anyone even animals. Still couldn’t figure why taxis being abandoned?
It’s a natural death for the worst taxis in the world. Just check old news for it. Malaysian taxis were rated the worst in the world. They cheated everyone.
Let the dinosaur extinct.. for once its too dominant. The future is now old man.
The reason GTSM failed is not because of e-hailing, it’s because of 2 things: failure to adapt to changes of technology and failure to maintain good quality of services. Can you imagine I’m riding a taxi which is an old car, smoking driver, I don’t even able to see who is the driver before I take off. Grab did, AirAsia did, GTSM? Not at all. And now they blame ehailing??
Taxi driver normally charge extreme flat fare. Refuse to use meter. Thats why people fo not use Taxi. Example fro JB central taxi charge RM50 and refuse to use meter. Ride hailing only chathe RM26
Taxis Malaysia were responsible for their downfall. Rude, overcharge, all negative things done by some taxi drivers yet they requested to be treated like king.
The government should have controlled TaxiMen behaviour..we have to onvoke on every taxi until one will agree to take the ride and they will muck up the prices ridiculously. I stay in kota masai, and they used to ask 120 per trip from jb town to kota masai..now with grab I can get it for less than 40 ringgit. Too many issues with taxi ..I’m glad we are no longer at their mercy. Taximen can join other ehailing services
I agree for a bit of ride price increase since everything rise in price on a continuous basis. But I think its survival of the fittest. If I were to choose between a ride fare of RM45 vs RM25 to the same destination, why should I choose the first?
Taxi drivers can go and die if no business. No explanation needed for this imbeciles. My 20 years plus of hatred towards them still here.
The taxi Assoc is complaining to keep their seats. Have you ever sympathised with passengers who suffered under your monopoly last time? You did not educate and discipline your members but encouraged them to continue harassing passengers. Your days have finally come. If the govt volunteers to steer you out of your self created problems, they are equally primitive. Do you know what is Competition and good Service in the industry? You expect Malaysians to provide you with clutches due to your non progressive mentality? You are actually doing nothing driving towards sunset. No need to think far, just look at Spore taxi drivers, why they are not complaining? They consider their services as PROFESSIONAL!!!
SOME bad apples really paint the bad picture, regardless of taxis/grab/uber. Driving on both platforms in current market condition I would say hard to cover, break even boleh senyum. Car maintenance and all no joke, coming from uber/grab early days. As to some having to work past retirement age, some no choice, some do it just to stay sane, list goes on. End of the day, hope all is well.
Rubbish. Taxi meter is cheaper than Grab during peak hours. Stop blaming others. Look inward. Face your karma for being rude and choosy in the past. Grab has taught you a lesson of what is good service. There is a price for everything. Stop this entitled “bapak punya” attitude.
While ehailing drivers are bz driving. taxi drivers are chilling at their ‘pondok’ playing boardgames while quoting 10 times the price of ehailing. Nak cepat kaya tetapi malas nak kerja keras
Interesting how people in other tered are complaining about Grab driver laziness.
Why not Grab haters come support taxis and taxi haters go support Grab then everyone can live happy in their own silos.
Don’t be surprised of suddenly Madani govt implement surcharge for first RM1 on e-hailing rides. The environment os prime for this, and their approval rating already hit the floor.
When consumers go to a Restaurant and if they are charged too high, the receipt is put on Social Media, the internet starts to get angry and the vendor and the authorities start an investigation.
But here we are trying to justify the reasons why the consumer should pay higher prices and accept poorer services in many cases.
Yup, soon the fate of e-hailing drivers would suffer a similar fate as e-hailing platforms keep reducing the fares… another paria industry waiting to be created, thanks to our so-called leaders
Fare is too low,cost of meantenance is going up,ehailing Commission ranging from 20%,15% and 10% should equalise the Commission say flat rate of 5%.at current rate ehailing company making money drivers loosing. Yet ehailing yearly insurance increased from RM325.00 to RM1825.00. It’s provide 0 benefits to the driver either or passenger upon untoward incident happened.
Malaysian government should control price gouging and mafia taxi drivers first. They have no right to remove public accessibility for transportation. How about the government controlling the taxi drivers first? Are you too coward to do what is right?
8 out of 10 taxi drivers cheat customers and negatively affect the country because of their behavior. They always cheat their customers no matter who they are, karma has taught them lessons
Can publish the top 20 owners with the most taxis license?
As a consumer I would opt for e-hailing services, the prices are transparent and its the passenger’s choice.
Taxis might run without meters, they just tell you the price to your destination, or run with tempered meters, which passangers might not be aware.
E-hailing base fare might even be higher than taxis at times but i get to sit in a clean and safe car because as a passenger I can rate both the car and the driver.
Drivers who would like to rent the vehicle could opt to work with a taxi car rental provider. Drivers who prefers to drive their own car, can choose e-hailing service. At the end of the day, each option bears a cost.
If the same rules were applied to both taxi and e-hailing service, and everyone is playing on the same ground
I believe taxis and e-hailing services could coexist.
bad service from taxiguy , dirty and lousy car, expensive
My father once a taxi driver. I can tell nowadays taxi driver doesn’t take their qualities.
Long ago, we don’t have phone that has maps installed. So mostly new people will directly ask taxi because they have skills that they developed to navigate their area.
But today, that skills can be said nonexistent because of the rapid change.
Plus, taxi driver doesn’t take care of their taxi properly like e- hailing cars. Smelly and dirty. Mostly because of cigarettes.
Their rates also not stable. From one place to one place prices of the same place ( 10-15 minutes rides) can go from Rm 15 to Rm 50 in one days. As a result people cannot help doubt the credibility of the taxis.
The service given by the taxi driver also has a bad reputation. In 9/10 taxi driver I’ve seen can be said rude. And whenever the topic about taxi driver nowadays come out most people said they are rude. The probability is too high to consider others taxi driver that has better services.
On other hand, out of 9/10 e-hailing service drivers really friendly. There are 2 times that they even provide some refreshments. But the cost of the journey can be said reasonable based on the time of the day. For 10- 15 minutes rides cost about Rm 10 – Rm 20. Mostly one minute rm 1. Plus with their coupon and promotion it can get even cheaper.
But that doesn’t mean e-hailing service really good. Just people can experience themselves to know what is good or bad.
For taxi service, they really need to upgrade their services and improve their ability from character to hygiene.
If they improve, more people will uses taxi as they are faster to get. Especially at the train stations, bus stations and airports.