By Syauqi Jamil
KUALA LUMPUR: Transport Ministry today again reiterated their call for e-hailing service providers to collaborate more with taxi drivers association.
Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said he hoped more initiatives are being taken to rope in taxi drivers into e-hailing services for the sake of the public transportation industry as a whole.
“Please do your best to encourage taxi operators to come on board because its very important to migrate traditional taxi to adopt e-hailing.”
“Its very important to bring them on board and to introduce technology to them. I’m sure with competitive rates it will be attractive for taxi driver to come on board.”
“Once they understood e-hailing services and the industry, it will be good fo public transportations as a whole for all Malaysians,” he said.
Loke said this during his speech before launching diffride, a new player in the e-hailing industry which currently operates in the Klang Valley region.
He hopes the days of rivalry between taxi association and e-hailing services will be over, adding that such hostile environment between the two will not benefit Malaysians.
“We don’t want e-hailing services and taxi to continue with the environment where they treat each other as enemies. Its time for all to work together at the minsitry level and I truly hope e-hailing service provider can adopt taxis,” he said.
During his first month as the Transport Minister, Loke said the ministry has decided in July that they will not stop new players from coming in to e-hailing services as Malaysians needed the alternative option.
Aware of the conflict between e-hailing services and taxi, Loke had introduced a new regulation for e-hailing services to adopt in a year as well as softening regulations to taxi drivers.
