Taxi drivers want exclusive rights to operate at KKIA
KOTA KINABALU: Taxi drivers operating from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) are suffering a drastic drop in income since the ehailing Grab service was offered there, according to the president of Persatuan Teksi Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kota Kinabalu (KKIA) Shamsuddin Mohd Shah.
He said they used to be able to do five to six trips a day earning them an average of about RM2,500 a month.
Nowadays, some of them are considered lucky to be able to get even one trip a day, he lamented, adding that ever since the Grab service was introduced there, their income had dropped to about RM700 a month,
He disclosed that there are 180 taxis operators at KKIA.
The situation worsened for them until they had to close down one of the association’s two coupon selling counters.
“If the situation does not improve, we may have to close down the remaining counter as we will not be able to afford to maintain it,” he said, adding that the association’s expenses at KKIA, including staff salary to man a counter, came up to about RM28,000 a month.
Speaking to reporters at KKIA yesterday, Shamsuddin urged the state government to step in and stop the e-hailing service from operating at the airport terminal and give the association members the exclusive right to operate at the airport.
“We appeal to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal to step in and help us as we need to support our families. We have all these expenses to meet but Grab drivers do not,” he lamented.
On the matter of people choosing Grab because the fare is cheaper, Shamsuddin pointed out that taxi rates are set by the government while the e-hailing service fare is set by the company operating it.
He also said the association had no qualms of operating under an e-hailing system providing that they were given exclusive rights to operate at KKIA.
“We are willing to accept any suggestions by the government as long as we are given the exclusive right to operate at KKIA,” he stressed.