E Hailing Drivers Urge Govt To Set Fares

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PETALING JAYA: E-hailing drivers have urged the government to intervene in regulating the fares, adding that it is necessary in order to ensure fairness among the players
Daryl Chong, president of the Malaysian E-hailing Drivers Association told FMT: “9 out of 10 e-hailing drivers will complain that the fare is too low” even though the government had said fares should follow market demand
“It does not make sense to follow the market’s demand or forces.” He said a price war between e-hailing operators left drivers at their mercy. “Only the operators and the passengers win,” he said. “Drivers are at the losing end.”He gave the example of airport transfer between KLIA and the city. “In December 2015, the fare for Uber was RM90. Later it dropped to RM75 and subsequently RM65 to match Grab. When MyCar came in, riders only paid RM59
Daryl Chong, president of the e-hailing drivers’ association.“See what impact it has on drivers? Do not be surprised if one day you get a ride for only RM 40 if the government does not step in.”Chong said price regulations would be fair to taxi drivers as well as e-hailing drivers because the gap between the two services was now too big
In Singapore, the price difference was only 20% but had reached almost 50% in Malaysia. “Ideally, we want our fares to be on par with taxis,” Chong said
Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook has said there were now 31 companies providing e-hailing services, giving commuters a choice of cheaper fares. “We do not want this industry to be a monopoly and there should be competition. If there is competition, the fare will be cheap and no e-hailing company can wantonly increase their prices.”However Chong said that if ceiling prices were regulated, passengers would not be ripped off. “There should be a cap to every single fare, and this will benefit operators, drivers, and passengers.”Grab Drivers Malaysia Association president Arif Asyraf Ali also called for price regulation, saying that current fares were too low to cover the drivers’ costs
“We want the Ministry of Transport to give a guideline then we can see healthy competition.”He said about 20,000 drivers had already quit the business. - FMT

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