The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) will not ban Uber, but instead regulate it so that it will not hurt the taxi industry. This information was revealed by chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar while speaking to reporters on Saturday.
Syed Hamid explained that the commission held a meeting with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to discuss the Uber issue. It was agreed that there was to be no banning of the Uber app, and it is now up to SPAD to decide on how to regulate the ride-sharing service.
“The main problem is Uber cars do not have any licences from SPAD and the related authorities,” said Syed Hamid.
However, he declined to elaborate on how SPAD would regulate Uber; instead claiming that the commission would need time to sort it out.
SPAD has delayed taking action against Uber to collect feedback on the public despite urging from Taxi driver associations in the Klang Valley to ban the service. There have been several demonstration against ride-sharing services, with local cabbies saying that the government is not doing enough to protect their livelihood.
It looks like we’re slowly inching towards proper regulation of ride-sharing services in Malaysia, which should put an end to the debate of what to do with Uber. Naturally, we expect that taxi drivers will not be happy to hear the news.
[Source: The Sun]
