The Land Public Transport Commission’s (SPAD) plan to legalise e-hailing services has received approval from the cabinet. The decision was reached after a presentation by SPAD chief executive officer Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah. All that remains now is for the appropriate legal amendments to be tabled in Parliament.
SPAD presented 11 initiatives that will not only see e-hailing services legalised, but the taxi industry revamped to compete with the changing market. Once in force, new individual taxi licenses will be issued to taxi drivers who have had a good track record. A proposal to streamline the Teksi 1Malaysia model was also well received by the cabinet.
Some 150,000 new individual permit holders are expected to be on the roads over the next three years; comprising of drivers for e-hailing services and conventional taxis. However, it is still unclear as to who will be responsible for the issuing of these new licenses.
SPAD itself has not officially announced the cabinet approval, and says that it will issue a statement at some point next week. The impending amendments are expected to be tabled during Parliament’s next sitting in November.
[Source: The Sun Daily]
