Taxi Drivers Facing RM4000 Penalty By Perkeso?

I received the following from John P highlighting some problems being faced by cab drivers. Just another group of people not happy with the Pakatan government. 70,000 cab drivers and 300,000 e-hailing cabs. That is 370,000 people. 

The letter is self explanatory.

Dear Sir, 

I am writing to you for your help in highlighting this issue nationally in the social media for all citizens of Malaysia to know when and how this Pakatan Harapan Government forces the very poor in the country to compulsorily pay up for this scheme with limited benefits as the date line to register ends today 1/7/19 for self employed workers to join the scheme. (OSTB : Sorry for late posting, my bad)

This scheme as I see it is just a way for the Minister to look good in the eyes of the Prime Minister as he creates more wealth for the government coffers forcibly obtained from the very very poor of society who find it almost impossible to put food on the table. Especially all the taxi drivers in Malaysia after the many e-hailing services were re-approved by the PH Government making it almost impossible to make a living in the city.

This "Skim Bencana Kerja Pekerjaan Sendiri" should involve about 300,000 e-hailing drivers and about 70,000 taxi drivers and an unknown number of self employed bus drivers nation wide. 

This does not include the other self employed citizens who do not contribute to Perkeso and who are not compelled to contribute! 

How much revenue is the government expected to make out of this scheme yearly and how much of this percentage is the government going to  pay out? 

What I'm driving at is Perkeso's Compulsory Scheme for Self Employed Workers which do not cover many of the contributors even after being forced to pay up by today 1/7/19 or face a penalty of RM4000.00 when many of these taxi drivers can't even save a minimum of RM1000.00 a year and many go into debt for not being able to cover the cost of maintaining their vehicles, paying their taxi rental and their day to day living expenses which in many cases are borne by their wives, provided she also works! 

There are four categories to choose from to contribute to this scheme, from a minimum RM157.20 to the maximum of RM592.80 yearly, averaging from RM13.10 to RM49.40 on a monthly subscription basis. 

1. Say for an example a taxi driver chooses to opt for the maximum category by paying a yearly contribution of RM592.80 for a seemingly maximum  protection scheme worthy of the high cost of living today and after a period of ten years he is involved in a car accident.

Unfortunately he has suffered a fractured leg bone etc and needs to be admitted. 

After 3 days he is discharged from hospital with a cast and needs to recuperate, heal and go for physiotherapy.

What sort of coverage would he get from this scheme after making contributions of nearly RM6000.00 for the past 10 years ?

According to the Perkeso scheme which is not clearly stated, the cover would only apply for admissions in hospital for a minimum of four days for contributors to receive any form of  benefit from the scheme.

Would a contributor to the scheme be able to receive any benefit from Perkeso whilst recuperating at home and for the duration it takes for the leg to heal?

Nothing is spelled out in detail again! 

Bear in mind he still has to pay for the cost of repairs to his taxi which can come up to thousands of Ringgit.

Most taxis are third party insured vehicles and drivers cannot make a claim if it is deemed to be that the accident resulted from  their own fault. 

And the taxi drivers still have to pay their daily rentals due to the taxi company for each day the taxi is in the workshop. 

All this can easily cost him more than double the repair bill - and let’s not ignore all the other hidden costs involved for a period of 10 years - without taking into account his daily rentals to the taxi company.

How is it possible for the taxi driver to pay for the daily rental due to the taxi company whilst waiting for the leg-in-cast to heal?

He still has to pay the daily rental dues until he gets back to work ASAP as per the agreement contract signed with the taxi company till it expires or face being black listed? 

(2) What happens if the insured taxi driver meets with an accident and dies on the spot?  What sort of coverage does he get? 

Perkeso pays out 90% of the sum insured to the widow or widower or to a child below 21 years old. Fine. 

Is this a death benefit, a one time payment or is it paid on a monthly remittance for the benefit of the deceased immediate family?  How many children below the age of 21 are eligible for payment? 

All this are also not mentioned! 

(3) What about contributors who are not married and don't have parents or grandparents? 

How many ageing taxi drivers will have parents and grandparents?

Why can't these single/unmarried, LGBT and unregistered couples who have been living together for years not benefit from this scheme after being forced to contribute to Perkeso without having the option to nominate a beneficiary like any other insurance policy which have many benefits and accept a nominated beneficiary? 

Perkeso only pays out benefits in the event of death to widows/widower, children below 21 years old, parents and grandparents even if they are multi millionaires whereas a poor dependent of the deceased will not get anything as she/he is not legally married as the case may b for unregistered, living together and LGBT couples. 

This is third world mentality, unfair, unjust,  totally unreasonable and done without hindsight.

In other words contributors in this category who die in the coarse of performing their jobs (after paying their yearly subscriptions for most of their lives) will not get any benefit from this scheme. 

Will the death benefit amount which is not even stated also not be available to the immediate family for them to conduct the funeral services for a poorman.

Nothing is spelled out clearly and staff at Perkeso could not answer my questions when I asked on why I should pay when I stand to gain nothing in the event of death and can't nominate a beneficiary.

This is not all which is highlighted here about this scheme. 

What is the % of contributions which will be paid out to beneficiaries minus the contributors who R single with no parents/grandparents, unmarried/unregistered couples and LGBT couples? 

Can the Minister concerned  answer these questions first before shooting his mouth off to us poor taxi drivers who can't even pay their taxi rentals before threatening to fine us RM4000.00 if we fail to register for this scheme. 

Tuan Syed, 

I hope U highlight these issues in your blog " OutSyed The Box" for The benefit of all those concerned. 

Thank You. 

Yours sincerely,

John P.