Loke: Premature to decide on success of m-cycle taxi service

KUALA LUMPUR: The framework and regulations related to motorcycle taxi service will be formulated based on the outcome of the proof-of-concept (POC) on the operations given to ride-hailing firms.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the six-month POC period given to ride-hailing firms was ongoing and it was too early for the ministry to conclude on the viability of the motorcycle taxi service.

“It is too early for me to announce anything since we are only into the second month of the POC period,” he said here yesterday.

In September last year, Loke had announced that the government would allow ride-hailing firms, including Indonesia’s Gojek, to start motorcycle hailing operations on a limited scale beginning this month.

Loke had said ride-hailing firms would be able to run their operations on POC for six months here to test their service.

He did not rule out the possibility that the ministry would review the success of other countries when formulating regulations regarding the service.

“The main data, however, must be based on the trial run (the outcome of the POC in Kuala Lumpur and nearby areas),” he said.

Asked on the number of ridehailing firms involved in the trial run period, Loke replied: “Apart from Dego Ride, there are one or two companies that have started their services.

“As I mentioned before, we approved the POC to any company that wanted to test its services. The latest information will be updated by the Land Public Transport Agency.

“We will wait until the trial period ends to see how we can regulate this industry,” he said.

It was reported that the Dego Ride motorcycle taxi service had returned to the streets early this year after it was banned from operating by the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

The local start-up, which will serve the Klang Valley, Shah Alam and Putrajaya, was given the green light to operate by the Pakatan Harapan government in a recent move to introduce bike e-hailing services in the country.

It was also learnt that Grab Malaysia had introduced the same service following the approval by the Transport Ministry for ride-hailing companies to test the motorcycle taxi service.

Loke confirmed that Gojek had yet to start its services.