PETALING JAYA: The efforts in legalising and regulating ride-hailing services such as Uber and Grab should be supported by all parties as it would encourage healthy competition and wider consumer choice, says Chief Executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
He lauded the move made by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) for responding to consumers’ feedback as it would benefit the consumers eventually so long it is guided by the right principles.
He said in a statement yesterday that for too long, the current taxi industry model has proven to be resistant to change, victimising individual taxi drivers, causing a decline in service quality and resulting in a stigma worldwide.
He also urged that taxi drivers to step up their efforts in improving their services instead of hiding behind protectionist policies.
“Taxi drivers need to start focusing on providing what consumers want because if they can’t, they do not deserve to be protected,” he said, adding the suggestion that SPAD should inform the public about their proposal before finalising it.
“Yes, of course they need Cabinet approval but they must also secure support and ownership from the stakeholders involved and the public.
“It would be much better if in this era of transparency and openness that SPAD publishes a white paper to outline the direction they are taking, rather than taking a top down approach in policy making,” Wan Saiful emphasised.
In a statement on Saturday, SPAD said it had taken a “balanced approach” that focuses on ensuring present policy, regulations and requirements form a level playing field for the taxi industry in the future.
SPAD has submitted a proposal to the Government to legalise and regulate ride-hailing services such as Uber and Grab.
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