No easy way out for gov’t in Uber-GrabCar saga

Government must revamp the entire taxi industry or unhappiness will remain.

The anger and unhappiness of taxi drivers looks likely to continue following the latest development in the Uber-GrabCar saga.

On Monday, Bernama reported that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) could not block websites of online taxi operators because they have not broken the communication law.

At the Dewan Rakyat, Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Jailani Johari said MCMC could not act against taxi drivers because it was not their responsibility to.

“We have no problem with online taxi operators except for unlicensed taxi drivers. It is between taxi drivers and the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD),” he said.

He explained that blocking the websites may open the MCMC to legal action since telecommunications companies have agreements with their customers.

In October, unhappy cabbies had called on SPAD to work with the MCMC to deactivate Uber and GrabCar apps.

For the record, SPAD has not called on MCMC to block the websites of online taxi operators because as Jailani explained, this might open the government to legal action.

This of course has not gone down well with taxi drivers.

In a Malaysiakini report on Wednesday, Klang Valley Taxi Drivers action committee coordinator Kamarudin Mohd Hussain lashed out at SPAD for not lodging a complaint with MCMC.

Kamaruddin also said SPAD had failed to look after the welfare of taxi drivers and called on the authority to disclose the statistics on the action taken against Uber and GrabCar.

This air of unhappiness and anger will continue to persist.

The truth is there is no easy way out of this conundrum, and there is no way for the authority in the hot-seat, SPAD, to resolve this issue.

Day by day, it gets more difficult for the authorities to keep up this balancing act of keeping taxi drivers happy and the public satisfied.

For years, the authorities listened half heartedly to the voices of the people who were unhappy with the standard of taxi services in the country.

Despite SPAD’s enforcement powers and assets, complaints of cheating and rude drivers persisted.

This has led to a negative perception of all taxi drivers, with the victims being the honest, hardworking few.

Then there is also the issue of the continued dominance of taxi permits by companies, leaving many taxi drivers at the mercy of the taxi companies’ rental of permits which can cost between RM40-60 per day.

To be fair to regular taxi drivers, it is costlier to run a regular taxi service than Uber or GrabCar, due to the cost of permits and mandatory maintenance every six months, amongst others.

The government’s poor policies and management of the taxi industry has created a need which Uber and GrabCar have readily fulfilled.

It is not just passengers who have opted for Uber and GrabCar as some taxi drivers have also opted to switch sides, citing a fairer deal.

Is it any wonder everyone is upset with the current situation?

There is no stop-gap measure to this solution.

The government must revamp the entire taxi industry.

For one, it is high time the government liberalise the sector by issuing more permits to individuals, removing the need for unfair rental agreements which put them at a disadvantage.

Online taxi operators should be allowed to continue providing their services, some of which come at a slightly higher cost than regular taxis.

The government must ensure that people wanting to operate taxi services, be it regular taxis or online taxis, can do so without as much hassle, restrictions and unnecessary costs as possible.

This will allow the industry to regulate itself better, ensuring a better deal for taxi drivers and the public.

All this of course must be accompanied by stringent and consistent enforcement.

The question is, does the government have the will to commit to change?