SHAH ALAM: Only 85 taxi owners under the 1Malaysia Taxi (TEKS1M) scheme have had their loan applications approved.
Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said although 1,000 units of Proton Exora had been allocated under the scheme, only 85 applications had been approved by Bank Simpanan Nasional.
"Banks practise prudence in granting loans. For TEKS1M, the only authorised bank is Bank Simpanan Nasional.
"I hope all the loan processes can be settled. We will monitor with Bank Simpanan Nasional and see what the problems are," he told reporters after witnessing the inspection process of the first batch of taxis under the scheme at Puspakom here Wednesday.
Syed Hamid said he was happy with the stringent inspection conducted by Puspakom on the taxis.
Meanwhile, Proton Edar CEO Hisham Othman said that Proton had received 907 bookings under the TEKS1M scheme, but could only process those whose loans were approved.
"On our side, we are ready to deliver more than the 85 units (of Proton Exora taxis)," he said.
Under TEKS1M, taxi owners need not pay a downpayment for their new vehicles, and the loan interest is fixed at 2% for seven years. The downpayment is paid for via a grant from Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia and rebates from Proton.
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