FMT recently spoke to several GrabCar and Uber drivers and heard only positive remarks about the mushrooming industry.
Nick Koh, a 23-year-old university student who is a part-time GrabCar and Uber driver, said he could tell that the ride-sharing industry was expanding rapidly.
“I notice that both companies have been aggressively recruiting new drivers,” he said. “That’s great in terms of service for customers because they can now get bookings much more easily.”
Marvin Chong, another young GrabCar driver gave a similar opinion, saying he was not bothered at all by the increased competition among ride-sharing drivers.
“The industry is indeed doing well, and as a driver, you can really earn extra cash,” he said.
Koh, who works an average of 20 hours a week, hopes that the government won’t impose too many regulations.
“Don’t over-regulate the industry,” he said. “Let there be healthy competition. GrabCar and Uber can provide the best rates for customers as well as good incentives to encourage drivers to provide good service.”
This is all bad news for taxi operators.
Big Blue Taxi Facilities founder Shamsubahrin Ismail said the future began to look bleak for the taxi industry when Uber started its service about three years ago.
“Soon enough, we realised that a storm had hit the industry,” he said.
“2016 has been really bad for taxi operators, and signs are showing that the industry will soon collapse.
“In fact, more than 10,000 drivers have surrendered their taxis. No new drivers are taking these cars because they would rather drive with Uber and GrabCar.”
Last October, a news report quoted an official of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents as saying that taxi operators might not survive beyond 2018, at least in the Klang Valley.
Shamsubahrin said taxi permit owners must take the blame for the industry’s troubles.
“For so many years, they have not been properly selecting, monitoring and managing their drivers,” he said.
“For example, taxi companies often hand over their cars to drivers without doing a thorough criminal background check. In short, permit owners don’t care about the history of the drivers. They only care about making money.”
He urged the government to show its support for the taxi industry.
“Help us,” he said. “In fact, I want to help SPAD (Land Public Transport Commission) improve the taxi industry.
“One of the ways to handle the issue is to ensure full accountability and responsibility by permit owners. We have shown good examples in the past and SPAD has acknowledged this. In fact, we have had success in turning the the worst drivers into good drivers.”