‘Motorcycle taxi’ service illegal — Transport Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: The Transport Ministry has never issued any permit or licence to offer ‘motorcycle taxi’ services to the public.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the facility, also known as ‘Dego Ride’, was unlawful under the Road Transport Act 1987.

“So far, no licences have been issued for motorcycle taxi riders, if they conduct such a business, it is illegal,” he told reporters after launching a road safety campaign here, yesterday.

He said the riders could be charged for misusing personal motor vehicle licences for commercial purposes.

Dego Ride is a motorcycle taxi service hailed using a smartphone application introduced in November last year, and has gained popularity among city dwellers as a cheap and fast alternative to get around the traffic woes in the capital.

Similar to the ‘Ojek’ service in Indonesia and ‘ Motorsai rap chang’ in Thailand, Dego Ride offered fares as low as RM2.50 for the first 3km, and RM0.60 for every subsequent kilometre.

Ab Aziz said the government would only allow the Uber and GrabCar services using smartphone applications, and this would be presented in more detail in the next Parliament sitting.

Commenting on taxi touts abusing the Uber and GrabCar platforms at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport ( KLIA), Ab Aziz said the ministry would monitor this and conduct operations from time to time.

“Uber and GrabCar use virtual applications, they (regular drivers) cannot be ‘ ulat’ (touts) because they need to be registered (on the respective platforms).

“At the KLIA terminal, we already have enforcement by JPJ (Road Transport Department) and SPAD ( Land Public Transport Commission) in collaboration with MAB ( Malaysia Airports Berhad) as the administrator there,” he said.

In the meantime, Ab Aziz said the ministry would hold a workshop with all bus operators nationwide on Feb 11 to brief them on stricter regulations against bus drivers and companies in the country. — Bernama