The recent European Union (EU) court ruling that Uber should be regulated like taxi operators would not affect the Malaysian governments existing plans of regulating e-hailing services like Uber and Grab.
Minister in the Prime Ministers Department Nancy Shukri, whose portfolio covers public transport regulatory bodies, said the EU ruling has no effect on our plan on e-hailing as we treat them as public transport services.
She said that recent legal amendments in Malaysia require e-hailing service providers to abide by the governments rules, adding that taxi drivers and e-hailing drivers will have to follow the same set of rules.
We want them to compete on the same level playing field as this is the new business model. We always made it clear that all rules are applicable and to be complied by both taxis and e-hailing partnerdrivers.
We have also instructed apps providers especially Uber and Grab to give priority to conventional taxis to be on their e-hailing platform as we feel that, given the right training, the transformed taxi drivers will be the most loyal passenger service providers in Malaysia, she told Malay Mail when contacted.
Ms Nancy oversees both the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (CVLB), which respectively regulates public transport in Peninsular Malaysia, and in Sabah and Sarawak.
Last Wednesday (Dec 20), the EUs top court ? European Court of Justice ? ruled that Ubers service in connecting individuals to non-professional drivers is a transport service and should be regulated as such, instead of being treated as merely an app.
In a separate response, SPAD confirmed that the EU courts ruling would not affect SPADs plans nor the plans of Sabah and Sarawaks CVLB for e-hailing services in Malaysia.
Each country is independent in making its own laws but we can always compare and learn from other countries experience, it told Malay Mail when contacted.
The Malaysian Government, through the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara has approved the e-hailing service as a class of public service vehicles (PSV). E-hailing operator such as Uber and Grab are deemed as an intermediation business, which means business that facilitates arrangements, reservations or transactions for the provision of land public transport services, while other classes of PSV operators directly owns or operates 1 or more PSV, it said.
The federal government had introduced amendments to the Land Public Transport Act and the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board Act, changes which SPAD says will give SPAD and CVLB the authority to regulate the industry.
Under this proposed regulation, e-hailing services will be imposed with certain regulations that are similar to the taxi industry.
For instance, e-hailing service operators will be required to register with SSM and obtain a license from SPAD to operate, while e-hailing drivers will need to obtain a Drivers Card from SPAD, undergo training and background screening, it said, referring to the Companies Commission of Malaysia by its Malay initials.
The amendments also require e-hailing drivers to undergo medical checks, vehicle inspections and have insurance coverage.
The Malaysian Parliamenthad on July 27 passed the amendments to both the Land Public Transport Act and the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board Act, while the SenateNegara had on August 15 passed these legal changes.
These amendments have yet to come into effect as they have not been gazetted.
On July 27, Ms Nancy had said that Malaysia is the first country to regulate e-hailing services, noting however that e-hailing service operators will be given a one-year grace period to comply with the requirements.
Malay Mail Online