KUALA LUMPUR: The Dego Ride app is now live with over 700 approved riders covering the Klang Valley and the bike e-hailing company is calling for more female riders to come on board.
Its founder and chief executive officer Nabil Feisal Bamadhaj said women make up a high number of passengers who want to use the bike-hailing service.
“We welcome more women to sign up as rider with us because our survey and market data showed that many passengers who want to use our service are women.
“We need more female riders to cater to the demand for their last-mile connections, ” he said after a launching ceremony for Dego’s app at the company’s headquarters in Taman Melawati here yesterday.
If female riders do not wish to become a full-timer, Nabil Feisal said they could opt to work during peak hours.
“There are many women working in malls or retails areas who only get off work at around midnight. They need to get home safely. We hope to help them that way, ” he said, adding that the service would be available 24/7 based on supply and demand.
As of now, he said about 100 female riders had signed up with less than 50 approved.
Also present during the ceremony were Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Dego’s business operation manager Syed Muhammad Abu Bakar.
In 2017, the Barisan Nasional government banned Dego’s motorcycle taxi service over public safety concerns.
After the Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya in May 2018, Transport Minister Anthony Loke had in September said the government would not legalise motorcycle ride-hailing services due to the same concerns.
However, in August last year, the Cabinet agreed to introduce the services as a means to improve on the last mile connectivity for public transportation system.
Starting this year, bike-hailing companies such as Dego are allowed to offer rides under a six-month Proof of Concept (POC) pilot project to assess the system while awaiting laws to be passed to regulate bike-hailing.
Covering the Klang Valley in areas from Putrajaya to Shah Alam, Nabil Feisal noted that the company expects to widen coverage in more states as it is in the process of vetting over 4,000 rider applications.
“Under Dego, male and female riders will only cater to passengers of their own gender.
“We are also working on expanding our service to other regions and states in March, ” he said, adding that the first 3km ride was at RM3, with RM1 charged for every subsequent kilometre after that.
Passengers can download the app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store and start using the motorcycle e-hailing service immediately.
Noting that Dego will conduct checks to ensure the vehicles’ and equipment safety, he said passengers would be covered by insurance provided by the company as a safety guarantee in the event of an accident.
Riders, he said, would have to fulfil several conditions before they were approved.
“He or she must be at least 18 years-old with a valid B2 licence. Their motorcycles must not be modified, not more than five years old with rider and passengers insurance, ” he added.
Syed Saddiq, who has been supportive of bike e-hailing, lauded Dego’s effort in providing job opportunities to youths and helping to improve the lives of the B40 group.
“This is a historic day and I feel proud to see our very own start-up Dego Ride begin its service in Malaysia.
“I was informed that they will create 5,000 employment opportunities for youths, who could earn between RM1,500 and RM3,500 monthly, ” he said when launching the event, adding that it was a good platform for youths searching for jobs or part-time employment.
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