Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

PUTRAJAYA (June 27): Ride-hailing companies such as Grab will not be banned but would be subject to existing regulations under the law to ensure they operate on a level playing field as traditional taxis, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

"There are already laws to regulate the sector but it was never implemented. A new direction and regulation in addition to the existing laws will be announced later in July," he said in a press conference today.

He said a discussion with the Public Land Transportation Commission will be held today to determine the direction of ride-hailing companies and licensed taxis.

Last year, the Land Public Transport Act 2010 and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 were amended to legalise ride-hailing companies and to regulate the sector.

Under the amendments, it was stipulated that ride-hailing application operators should possess an intermediation business licence issued by a regulatory body, and that the business licences are renewable but not transferable.

"We want to implement the registration of drivers, and [ensure] that fee payments are made. These were not implemented by the previous government [as prescribed by the law], which made taxi drivers angry. We hear their demands but we cannot ban the ride-hailing companies because it is against international trend.

"Hence, [we need] to discuss the direction of the industry and to announce new guidelines, apart from the amendments to the acts, in the next few weeks. We want to ensure the ride-hailing industry is regulated so that there is a level playing field. We will be fair to everyone," he added.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share