Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) should not charge e-hailing riders for picking up passengers at KLIA and KLIA2, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
"I disagreed with the RM5 charge. I have already instructed my officer to contact MAHB to resolve the matter," he told a press conference after attending a property event in Kuala Lumpur today.
He was asked about the grouses of e-hailing drivers who opposed MAHB's new rules governing e-hailing vehicles' pick-up areas at the KLIA and KLIA2.
Under the new rules which came to force on Oct 12, e-hailing cars cannot wait at the pick-up lanes of the airports for more than five minutes.
Loke, however, defended the five-minute rule by MAHB, saying the ride-sharing customers also needed to consider the interest of other passengers, as well as the fact that they could cause a traffic jam at the airport.
"The e-hailing driver, in fact, shouldn't wait (at the pick-up lane). I feel that five minutes waiting is sufficient for them," he said.
He also said ride-sharing drivers should not compare themselves with airport limousine-for-hire drivers who paid fees to MAHB to wait at the pick-up lane.
On Oct 11, MAHB announced new pick-up areas designated for e-hailing drivers at KLIA and KLIA2, which came into force the next day.
The drivers are required to have a minimum value of RM20 in prepaid cards or pay-wave cards to access the new pick-up points..
They will have to pay RM10 for waiting beyond five minutes as a penalty and an additional RM10 if they continue to wait for a further five minutes.
The Star also reported that an RM5 fee will be also charged for e-hailing drivers who pick up passengers at KLIA2 beginning next month.
The RM5 charge will be collected by a company which has been appointed as the "queue manager" of the airport.
The Star reported that Malaysia E-hailing Drivers Association president Daryl Chong had objected to the new rules, saying five minutes was not enough as some passengers took up to 20 minutes to come out from the airport.
At today's press conference, Loke said the driver could always come back to pick up the passengers again if the latter took more than five minutes to emerge.
He said the public would complain about congestion at the airport if e-hailing drivers waited in the pick-up lane for too long.
The five-minute waiting rule is not just imposed on e-hailing drivers, but also on private car drivers who wait in the pick-up lanes, added Loke. - Mkini
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