THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) has called on enforcement agencies in Malaysia to uphold the law where it concerns private vehicles carrying fare-paying passengers, including those using ride-hailing apps such as Uber and GrabCar.
Referring to the recent protests by taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur on March 29 over their loss of income to ride-hailing apps, Jaya Kumar Sannadurai, MATTA’s ground transportation vice president, said: “We are against taxi drivers staging protests that cause inconvenience to other road users and tourists.
“Disturbing scenes and ugly body language cast a poor image of our capital city and taxi drivers.”
He further stated that the current situation, under which unlicensed private vehicles are operating unlawfully as taxis, requires intervention.
Explaining his stand, Jaya Kumar said: “MATTA is all for good service by all parties but is advocating for a level playing field and current laws to be respected.”
For Jaya Kumar, there are two options available to enforcement agencies. The first is to totally deregulate the industry by amending many laws so that private vehicles are allowed to carry fare-paying passengers. The second is to enforce the law by clamping down on unlicensed taxis.
“Until this is agreed and laws amended, the various enforcement agencies should carry out what they are entrusted to do, otherwise they would be making a mockery of the law.”
“The lack of enforcement on ride-hailing apps using private vehicles has escalated to the quagmire we are now in, and will grow worse without effective intervention,” he cautioned.
