Laws on e-hailing to be gazetted in second quarter

KUALA LUMPUR: Laws providing for ehailing services such as Uber and Grabcar will be gazetted in the second quarter of 2018.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the relevant laws were the Land Public Transport Act 2017 and Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 2017.

She said it was necessary for her ministry to coordinate the fare structures, Puspakom inspections and division of jurisdiction between the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and Road Transport Department before e-hailing could be gazetted.

“After reviewing various matters, the two acts will be gazetted in the second quarter of this year,” Nancy said after the handing over ceremony of Individual Taxi Permits under the Taxi Industry Transformation Programme (TITP) here yesterday.

At the event, 300 taxi drivers received individual licences. Out of that total, 74 also received government grants of RM5,000 each to buy new vehicles.

“The grant is part of the RM150 million allocated by the government for qualified taxi licensees.

“Since the TITP was implemented in December 2016, a total of 2,493 taxi drivers have received individual licences and 82 government grants worth RM410,000 have been awarded to eligible taxi drivers,” she said.

Present was SPAD acting chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad, who is also Jempol member of parliament.