CABBIES MAY TAKE SPAD TO COURT

Taxi drivers want to stop commission from legitimising Uber and GrabCar

KUALA LUMPUR: An application for an injunction to halt the Land Public Transport Commission’s (SPAD) alleged plans to transform the taxi industry by legitimising Uber and GrabCar apps will be filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court next week.

Klang Valley Taxi Drivers Action Committee chairman Zailani Isa Usuludin said the application will be filed on Dec 30.

“Enough is enough. We have been utilising many channels requesting the government to shut down the Uber and GrabCar apps as well as taking action against the app provider companies. But it has been fruitless,” he said yesterday.

It is learned that several details had emerged from the SPAD’s month-long taxi lab session to legitimise the Uber and GrabCar services by allowing private vehicles to operate as legal taxis alongside a proposed revamp plan to revitalise the conventional taxi fleet.

Discontented with the move proposed by SPAD, the cabbies held a series of meetings since last week and decided that legal recourse is the next option to bring an end to the Uber app availability in the country.

Zailani said the application of the court injunction would serve two objectives. “Firstly, to prevent SPAD from carrying out its plan to blend private vehicles and conventional cabs as part of the new image of the taxi industry.

“And secondly, to obtain a court order to shut down the operation of the mobile apps acting as a matchmaker by offering ‘teksi sapu’ (illegal taxi) services through private vehicles.”

To date, several countries including Indonesia, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Germany have banned or shut down the Uber app through court orders and actions from local authorities.

The injunction by Malaysian cabbies is seen as a pre-emptive step by the taxi drivers to stop SPAD from tabling the proposed amendment in the next Dewan Rakyat session in Parliament.