Videos show Uber drivers being scolded by taxi drivers

KOTA KINABALU: It is early days still for Uber drivers here but two videos have surfaced showing them being scolded by taxi drivers.

The ridehailing service is quite new in Sabah but Uber drivers are upsetting taxi drivers who feel that their business has been affected.

Shouts were heard in one of the videos, which was captured at night, believed to be from taxi drivers at one taxi stand here.

They were heard telling a man to leave and that they had been waiting for customers since afternoon.

The other video showed a taxi driver walking up to an Uber driver and asking whether he had a licence to fetch passengers. The voice in the video was heard repeatedly ordering the Uber driver to tell his passengers inside the car to get out.

“Do you know that Uber is illegal in Sabah?” the taxi driver was heard asking a nervouslooking man, who kept apologising.

The Uber driver pleaded for his passengers and not to be harmed, saying that he was just trying to earn some money.

Kota Kinabalu police chief Asst Comm M. Chandra said they have yet to receive any report about this.

The videos have elicited diverse comments on social media.

Some felt that Uber should not be allowed as it had no permit.

Others, however, said that customers had the right to choose the service they preferred.