Taxi drivers call for law banning Uber

KUALA LUMPUR: Local taxi drivers have called on Parliament to introduce a law banning vehicle-for-hire service Uber.

The Metered Taxi Drivers Action Body (BBPTB) said although the Uber service was considered illegal, there were no existing laws in place to take them off the streets.

“We demand that a motion on this issue be tabled and debated by MPs in Parliament until it can become a law to officially declare the service illegal,” BBPTB chairman Amran Jan told reporters after submitting a memorandum to parliamentarians on Tuesday.

They also urged for strong action to be taken against other private vehicle for hire apps such as Grabcar, Easy-Plus, and Blacklane.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who received the memorandum from BBPTB, said services such as Uber would affect the “rice bowl” of local taxi drivers.

“There are certain issues, specifically related to monitoring, implementation and the quality of such services.

It has been banned by SPAD, but it is as if these services have received the blessing of the authorities and are being practiced freely,” he said.

Among other demands, the memorandum urged Parliament to put a stop to the Private Hired Vehicle license currently being mulled over by SPAD, and to grant more authority to the Communications and Multimedia Commission to regulate the mobile app.

SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had said in August last year that the problem was not with the Uber service itself, but the cars dispatched by them which may not be authorised to operate as taxis. 

He said they did not have the required Public Service Vehicle license, and would be committing an offense under the Land Public Transport Act 2010. 

Uber, which is an international vehicle-for-hire service, has already been banned in several other countries and major cities such as China, Thailand, Germany, Jakarta, and New Delhi.