PUTRAJAYA: Taxi, hire car and school bus drivers will receive the RM1,000 special financial aid without having to register or fill in forms, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He said the drivers' details were already with the Road Transport Department (JPJ), Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) and Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (LPKP).
"We know who our drivers are. There is no need to register again and no need to fill in forms.
"We will process it for all who are eligible, and all will get it," he said when launching the aid at the ministry's office here on Wednesday (Oct 14).
Loke said every eligible driver would receive the one-off aid before Deepavali at the latest.
ALSO READ: One-off RM1,000 aid for taxi, school bus drivers to be paid in stages from Oct 14, says Loke
About 500 drivers received contribution vouchers worth RM1,000 each from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday.
Loke said the h andover was symbolic as the ministry could not gather some 50,000 drivers in one place.
The next handover will be in Penang on Saturday (Oct 17) while the rest will be paid by electronic transfer, he added.
Drivers who are left out can submit their names through their associations for verification, he added.
The aid, announced when Anwar tabled Budget 2027 on Friday (Oct 9), is funded by the sale of special "H" series vehicle registration numbers, which raised RM91.2mil.
Loke said the ministry had expected the H series, the only single letter not yet registered, to fetch RM30mil at most.
"But it turned out we set a new record of RM91mil," he said, adding that H1 alone went for RM10mil, the highest amount ever paid for a registration number in the country.
He said such revenue would normally go into the Consolidated Revenue Account, but Anwar agreed to return part of the additional revenue to the ministry for its initiatives.
Loke said he and the ministry's secretary-general proposed giving it to taxi drivers during a trip to Sarawak for Malaysia Day, and Anwar agreed immediately.
The ministry said that because the proceeds were collected this year, distribution could begin before Budget 2027 is passed.
Loke also credited Gabungan Teksi SeMalaysia, which he said had sent a memorandum every Budget asking for RM1,000 for taxi drivers.
