Over 100 taxi drivers from around the Klang Valley have come together to sue the Land Public Transport Commission for failing to take action against ride-sharing services like Uber and GrabCar. They claim that their livelihood has been affected, and that they are being discriminated against.
The claimants have named SPAD as the sole defendant in the case and a seeking a court order to compel the commission to ban Uber, GrabCar, and Blacklane. Interestingly, this law suit doesn’t appear to come from Big Blue Capital who threaten to sue Uber and Grabcar a couple of weeks ago. Instead, it comes from members of the Klang Valley Taxi Drivers Action Committee – which is an ad hoc committee comprising 29 taxi associations.
The civil suit was filed at the high court earlier today, and the claimants are seeking general damages, interest, costs and relief deemed fit by the court.
As usual, the taxi drivers are claiming that ride-sharing services do not have permission to operate; and that doing so is breaking the law. The claim is technically true, as SPAD has been constantly reiterating its stand that drivers for the services should apply for the appropriate permits to work within the law. However, the commission has not taken any action directly against the operators. To its credit, SPAD has instead solicited a survey to gauge the public’s opinion on ride-sharing services.
[Source: The Star]
