Taxi drivers protest illegal taxi industry

Metered taxi drivers gather outside Parliament today to protest the proliferation of the illegal taxi industry.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of disgruntled taxi drivers gathered outside Parliament this morning to protest the proliferation of the illegal taxi industry.

Represented by NGO Badan Bertindak Pemandu Teksi Bermeter (BBPTB), the group of drivers stood outside holding up banners saying, “Save The Malaysian Taxi Industry From Illegal Taxis”.

Displayed prominently on the banners and placards were the crossed-out logos of alternate transport service providers Uber, Blacklane, Easy Plus and MyTeksi’s GrabCar, with written accusations of “MyTeksi Merompak Rezeki Kami (MyTeksi is Robbing Us of Our Income)”.

The protesters periodically shouted slogans of “Hancur Uber! Hancur Blacklane! (Down with Uber! Down with Blacklane!)”

In a statement to the media, BBPTB chairman Amran bin Jan said that a memorandum had been prepared for the perusal of the 222 Members of Parliament, requesting them to put a stop to the illegal taxi industry.

“We want Parliament to declare Uber as illegal, because it has caused chaos in the taxi industry. Local phone apps such as GrabCar and Easy Teksi have begun to imitate Uber’s app. And until now, SPAD (Land Public Transport Commission) has been unable to handle the matter,” said Amran.

“We know that neither SPAD nor SKM (Malaysian Co-operative Societies Commission) has jurisdiction over the matter, and suggest in this memorandum that their power be extended to block apps such as Uber and GrabCar from becoming widespread and destroying the income of local registered taxi drivers.”

He added that if no action was taken by Members of Parliament, it would therefore mean that they were not serious about their jobs.

“If you’re not serious, then you shouldn’t be Members of Parliament,” he said.

“This is for the rakyat. There is no politics in this. We don’t want to conflate the issue of taxis with politics. We just want to go through the proper channels – Parliament is where they can draft laws.”

“If SKM, SPAD or JPJ do not have enough laws, we demand that Parliament give them wider jurisdiction, or create more laws for them so that the problem of illegal taxis can be completely eradicated.”

Amran said that Uber’s modus operandi for the past few years had been to recruit drivers through their website and Facebook page with amazing promotions.

He called it all a scam, saying it was their drivers who were ultimately being taken in because they had to use their own cars to run Uber’s operations, since Uber had no cars of its own.

“If the drivers are pulled in by SPAD and their cars are confiscated, all is gone. The driver has to be responsible for everything. Uber will not take on the responsibility,” alleged Amran.

“We will continue to work with SPAD, giving them information on the illegal taxi operations so that the problem can be eradicated.”

Amran also called for the licenses of Private Hired Vehicles (PHV) to be cancelled, saying that it would only boost illegal taxi operations, since SPAD has not determined a quota for approving taxi permits nor any form of price control.

“If they can price their fares however they wish, we fear that it will become like Uber – they can price their fares by 15% to 30% cheaper than the fares charged by metered taxis.”