Many return cabs despite leeway given

weeks,” he said, adding that since the introduction of ride-hailing apps, taxi drivers’ income have seen a dip by as much as 40%.

Mohd Alias said there were also several instances where vehicles were repossessed by operators due to outstanding rental payments of several months.

“We have given them (drivers) a lot of leeway. Some of them have outstanding payments of five or six months although we gave them notices and warnings,” he added.

A spokesman for New Supercab Sdn Bhd, who wished to be known only as Valerie, confirmed that there has been a huge increase in the number of drivers returning their vehicles and cabs being repossessed for outstanding rentals.

“I spoke to some of our drivers and most of them said it was hard for them to cope with the competition from Uber and Grab,” she said.

Checks by theSun at the company’s building in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, also found some 200 taxis, mostly returned, parked around the compound and at an open field beside it.

Big Blue Taxi Services founder Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail, however, said his company did not have any issues of drivers returning their vehicles, as it operates premium taxi services while most of those affected were budget taxis.