This was one of the surprise “packages” in the Budget 2017 presented by Prime Minister Najib Razak in Parliament today.
Najib announced that anyone who qualifies for the BR1M cash aid, will also be given the opportunity to buy a new car with a RM4,000 rebate for the express purpose of becoming a driver for ride-sharing services.
However, the exact statement made by Najib, as finance minister, seems to specify that the BR1M recipient must use the cash aid given towards a downpayment for the new car, which is also limited only to the Proton Iriz model.
The prime minister had also mentioned Uber in his speech, so it is not known if the same benefits applied for those BR1M recipients who wished to drive for Grab, which is the other ride-sharing service available in the country currently.
In an immediate response, Uber Malaysia General Manager Leon Foong said the company was delighted by the government’s move.
“We are especially happy that the prime minister has recognised Uber’s impact on the socio-economic status of Malaysians in the B40 segment.
“We are also thrilled to be engaging with Proton, the national carmaker, as a partner and will announce more details soon,” Foong said, adding that this shows that ride-sharing is here to stay and Uber will certainly continue to do our part in improving urban mobility in Malaysia.
Uber has a presence in about 400 cities in 72 countries. It started its operations in Malaysia in late 2013.
It was previously reported that Uber a tech company has US$13 billion in cash and available credit besides having a valuation of US$68 billion.
Two government-linked funds also have direct and indirect investments in the San Francisco-based company.
State-owned investment arm, Khazanah Nasional, has an indirect interest in Uber through an investment in General Atlantic LLC, while the country’s second largest pension fund, KWAP, made a US$30 million investment in Uber last month.