SPAD still mulling whether to ban or regulate ride-sharing services

KUALA LUMPUR: Uber cars may not be banned from Malay­sia’s streets just yet, despite possible plans to do so.

With growing public support behind the service, the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has indicated that it was still looking at regulating it.

“We understand the solutions provided by Uber and GrabCar, and the sentiments of the people towards it,” said the commission’s chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah here yesterday.

He said this after he was asked about the commission’s supposed plans to stop Uber drivers from operating, including seizing their cars and stopping them from renewing their road tax.

Reports of the plan came less than a week after an anti-illegal taxi operation which saw eight GrabCar and one Uber vehicles detained by the commission.

Taxi drivers have in recent months called for ride-sharing services to be banned, with some claiming more than 20% drop in their incomes.

Azharuddin said the ride­-sharing services did not fit into the commission’s legal framework but that it had to find a solution “towards this new technology”.

He said the new legislation to amend public transport laws for ride sharing had been discussed with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and various others.

An online petition supporting Uber cars against the taxi industry has been spreading on social media, with nearly 2,000 signatures by 6pm yesterday.

Federal Territories and Selangor Taxi Association president Datuk Aslah Abdullah was against any move to allow ride-sharing cars on the road.

“That is something wrong. If you allow illegal taxis ... it’s like the law of the jungle,” he told The Star.

He said Uber and GrabCar vehicles had to be subjected to the same laws that governed taxis here, including licences, periodic checks and meters.