Taxi drivers from the Malaysian Taxi Drivers' Transformation Association (PERS1M) have held a protest outside the MyTeksi headquarters in Petaling Jaya this morning, demanding for the suspension of services like Uber and MyTeksi-owned GrabCar, which they say are taking away their livelihoods by undercutting their meter rates through underhanded means.
"We express regret and disappointment towards the lack of concern on behalf of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) in protecting our industry and safeguarding our economy," said vice president Kamarudin Mohd Hussain. "Regarding the issue of GrabCar, Uber and other such services, it has always told us that [the matter] was beyond its control. It cannot do anything to protect taxi drivers."
Kamarudin added that the PERS1M threatened to organise a larger demonstration that will involve blocking major roads around the city – such as the areas around the Bukit Bintang, Dataran Merdeka, KL Sentral and Jalan Sultan Ismail – if SPAD or other relevant authorities fail to address the issue.
"We're fine with GrabCar operating. But it has to through legal means – the service must be operated by qualified taxi drivers; they cannot simply use personal vehicles, or those that are not permitted," he said. "That's what we are not okay with. They are taking away our income, that's the problem."
The secretary of the Subang Jaya Taxi Drivers' Association (PPTSJ), Mathavan Subramaniam, said that taxi drivers are subjected to many rules and regulations, which GrabCar drivers with regular non-marked vehicles can get away with.
"Every taxi driver has to undergo a health examination before being eligible for a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence that is required to drive a taxi," he said. "GrabCar is not subjected to such a ruling; in addition, its vehicles are not inspected by Puspakom. This is a violation of SPAD rules, yet GrabCar is still in operation.
"[GrabCar] drivers have also been blacklisted and are not eligible to drive taxis. They do not hold a PSV licence and have been barred by SPAD for a number of reasons, including inconsiderate behaviour. [The authorities] cannot perform checks on these drivers if there are accidents or any other incidents, because the car have either not been registered under their name, or has been registered under the government."
One of the taxi drivers present, who would only be known as David, agreed with Mathavan's statements. "Every day, we have to pay RM58 [the taxi rental rate]. There are no off days. But if you drive a GrabCar or Uber vehicle, you can relax your mind. You don't have to pay tax, you don't have to pay for the meter, you don't have to go for inspection, you don't need a PSV licence.
"We pass everything. The police catch us, everything is gone. But when you drive a GrabCar vehicle, [the authorities] don't know if it's a [PSV]."
During the protest, PPTSJ submitted a memorandum to MyTeksi, announcing that its drivers will stop using the application for seven days and will remove all stickers advertising it. It said that should the company fail to suspend its GrabCar service, it will launch a campaign to boycott the application.
"We express disappointment towards the betrayal of MyTeksi, to whom we have given our trust and support for all this time," the memorandum stated. "We have discovered that MyTeksi has been using loopholes in the law to destroy our careers when we have been responsible for promoting and introducing the MyTeksi application to our passengers all this while."
The full statement by Kamarudin has been included below.
Statement by PERS1M in full
We at PERS1M will always provide our full support to any party that defends the welfare and rights of taxi drivers.
We express regret and disappointment towards the lack of concern on behalf of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) in protecting our industry and safeguarding our economy. This is despite the government ordering SPAD to immediately form the necessary steps to ensure our economy during the Janji Ditepati handover of 1,000 individual taxi licences, launched by the prime minister.
Until today, we have found the SPAD has been irresponsible and has FAILED to perform the task that has been handed to them by the government. As such, we plead to the leadership of prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to reshuffle all SPAD officers, as they are ill-informed and inexperienced with regards to the taxi industry, and in fact their arrogant attitude that they have shown is destroying our industry still further.
With the problems we are currently facing, we hope the government will not blame us when we no longer provide support to the government, as our welfare and economy have been severely affected.
We do not wish to go against the government, we respect the government very much. In fact, we are ready to heed the call of the government to upgrade the quality of taxi services in Malaysia. But how are we able to do this if our welfare and economy are not protected?
MESSAGE TO TAXI DRIVERS
I plead to the entire community of taxi drivers to unite our industry that is deteriorating from the apathetic attitude towards the problems of the industry.
We should unite and fight to keep our profession going. Our industry is like our country. Are we going to just do nothing and watch our country be destroyed? Let's unite.
I imagine that we can hold several large-scale demonstrations in a number of locations around the city in the same day. It's not impossible that with our might and the awareness that we have bestowed amongst ourselves, we will be able to retrieve the promises that have been given by the government to us. We do not want to go against the government; we only want our rights to be returned to us.
MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY AND DRIVERS WHO ARE INVOLVED
Please use services that are legal and do not put yourself or your family in danger as the risk of crime is very high.
To those who wish to be or are already involved in such illegal services, please stop your actions, as the risk of being taken action under the law is very high.
Malaysian Taxi Drivers' Transformation Association
Kamarudin bin Mohd Hussain
Vice President, PERS1M
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