Kota Kinabalu: With more people fond of using ride-hailing services, there are calls for local authorities to free up spaces reserved for taxis to the public.
It is believed that there are now more Grab drivers than taxi drivers.
Taxis that once throng Sabah urban roads are now an occasional sight, particularly after Covid-19 lockdowns and the convenient abundance of e-hailing vehicles that are easy to call with smartphones.
Airport taxis suffered the most from airline flight bans and border closures that Pan Malaysia Taxi Association President Kamarudin Mohd Hussain and other local taxi associations said the taxi industry is no longer a viable business and job option for people anymore.
“This situation is also affected by the cheaper e-hailing fares which are not controlled by the government, Most
passengers were unsympathetic taxis drivers, they claimed, used to charge high fares, refused to use meters and were slow to respond, poor or rude service etc.
“The biased and unequal regulations between taxi and e-hailing services have resulted in taxi drivers being side-lined and not being able to compete.”
He added that the taxi industry had been bearing the repercussions from e-hailing services and that “our human rights and welfare are not protected”.
The government provided an exemption from excise duty and sales tax for transfer, disposal and private use of taxis, provided the vehicle is owned for seven years. Taxi drivers can buy their vehicles without paying any excise or other duties.
Singapore-based Grab recently went public.
It is managed through a special purpose acquisition company (Spac).
This happened after Malaysia’s wealth fund Khazanah declined to fund what was Malaysia’s taxi tech start-up company by a scion of the Tan Chong Group, but was received with open arms by Singapore’s wealth fund Temasek and others.
Singapore’s taxi companies are still performing well in competition with Grab as Temasek used to be one of their shareholders.
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