Taxi association wants level playing field
KOTA KINABALU: West Coast Taxi Association yesterday called upon the government to ban ehailing car service providers here as it claimed the average income of local taxi drivers have suffered a 70 per cent income plunge.
Its chairman Wong Nyuk Ming said the ban should only be lifted once the government has formulated and imposed proper regulations and requirements similar to those adhered to by taxi drivers nationwide.
He said the e-hailing reboot here must also be regulated by the government and include the prioritising of safety measures such as Puspakom inspections and getting the right insurance protection.
Wong said taxi drivers today have watched Uber and GrabCar drivers operating freely without any restraints, sometimes picking up to five passengers with only a Kancil car, in all areas of the cities and other districts.
On the other hand, he claimed Kota Kinabalu taxi drivers were limited to areas such as Bongawan, Kota Belud and Moyog.
Wong said taxi drivers have to adhere to the rules imposed by four government entities, such as the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK), Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (LPKP) and Road Transport Department (JPJ).
He said taxi drivers should also wear a uniform and drive a minimum 1.5 CC vehicle before they can be in the business or face a fine of around RM300.
“We only want the treatment to be fair and square. We cannot do anything because we are not from the ministry, especially from the Road and Transport Department. So we cannot take action, only the government can.
“We are only earning about 30 per cent of what we used to get and on top of that, we need to pay income tax every year,” said Wong at a press conference held here yesterday.
He added that taxi drivers were also subjected to the inflation of insurance payments and fluctuating fuel prices and noted that it was normal for taxi drivers to go home with an empty pocket even after working from morning to night time.
Wong also revealed that 30 to 35 per cent of the association’s members have stopped driving taxis since Uber and GrabCar gained prominence in Sabah around one year ago.
He pointed out that this was despite the boom in tourist arrivals in Sabah as big groups usually travel in chartered transportation whilst the remainder were majorly swiped away by e-hailing car services here.
He also urged the government to take the first step by blocking the e-hailing service provider websites and make way for proper regulations should the service be made available again.
“The government wants the people to be able to earn side income through e-hailing services. This has affected our income. So now, we want to know what the government can do to assist us in this,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the association’s committee member, John Joshua, also urged the government to keep an eye on the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) shuttle bus service operations.
He said the association had brought evidence showing that the shuttle bus had operated off route to LPKP three months ago but irregular activities have still been observed by their members recently.
The West Coast Taxi Association, established during the British colonisation times, have over 300 members out of the total of over 1,000 taxi drivers in Kota Kinabalu.