Labuan cabbies hard hit by ride-hailing service
LABUAN: Ride-hailing service (e-hailing) of Grab Malaysia is ‘crushing’ the taxi industry here, leaving an exodus of cab drivers drowning in debt, according to Labuan Taxi Association chairman Ismail Abdul Rahman.
He said most of the taxi drivers who had been operating for more than 30 years are now in quandary over the depletion of source of income and unable to settle car monthly instalments with the bank, since the Grab is operating in the duty-free-island here almost two years now.
“Labuan is a small island with nearly 200 taxis operating downtown and at airport, and with the existence of Grab here, is like rubbing salt into the wound, as most of the time we cannot break even,” he said yesterday.
Ismail said prior to the operation of Grab here, most of the white-green cab drivers were earning between RM100 to RM200 a day.
“But after the more than 800 of Grab operators operating islandwide, we could only earn RM40 to RM50 daily, sometimes back home with no income at all ... taxi drivers are losing livelihood to Grab.
“Most of the people in Labuan have more than one car, making it already difficult to us to make end meets, and now that with the Grab operators, with most of them have full-time job with monthly income, this is certainly making thing worst,” he said.
Ismail said as the taxi rate here is only between RM15 to RM36 per ride, the association urged the government to restrict Grab’s operations on the island.
In June, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the government would not ban e-hailing (or etaxi) services, despite calls from several quarters particularly taxi driver groups.
He said the government is committed to ensure there is a ‘level-playing field’ for both sides, and e-hailing services would be regulated.