Instead, the head of Persatuan Transformasi Pemandu Teksi Malaysia, Kamarudin Mohd Hussain, said the allocations unveiled in Budget 2018 were just “candies” given out by Putrajaya to gain votes in the general election.
“We do not think that the distribution of cash from the RM1 billion allocated to the public transport fund can further improve the industry or even introduce a new and improved system for public transport on the ground,” he said.
Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday announced that RM1 billion was allocated to the public transport fund to upgrade the country’s existing public transport system, besides obtaining new assets including buses and taxis.
Kamarudin said RM1 billion would not solve the problems faced by taxi drivers due to stiff competition from ride-hailing services, Uber and Grab.
“The government is saying taxi drivers are denying technological advancement but we have been robbed of our customers by Uber and Grab,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ajit Johl, who is the president of the Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) also added that the taxi industry needs to be upgraded for them to survive.
“For the taxi industry to survive, we will need to upgrade the cars we drive and maybe even include the alternative of using electric cars since most of the internal combustion engine manufacturers of most cars have voluntarily agreed to stop producing these vehicles by 2030. So why not move in that direction?” Ajit asked.
Last year, the government had announced a grant of RM5,000 to enable taxi operators to purchase new vehicles. Individual taxi permits were also offered which was expected to benefit 12,000 qualified taxi drivers who had ended their lease contracts with taxi companies.
In addition, the Social Security Organisation (Socso) scheme was also introduced for individual taxi drivers with a monthly income of up to RM3,000.