Taxis Might Disappear From The Roads Of Klang Valley In The Next 16 Months

Industry insiders told English daily The Sun that taxi companies are counting on the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to intervene and save the RM230 million industry or they may suffer and face up to RM60 million loss in revenue by the end of the year.

According to a bumiputera taxi operator, the numbers are increasing for new taxis to be leased out while cabbies are returning their existing taxis because they are unwilling to continue driving.

"On average, it has been between RM15 million and RM20 million losses monthly across the industry. The business was bad post-GST. With Uber and Grab in the picture, we are suffering even more," Avenue Drive Sdn Bhd managing director Abdul Razak Abdul Aziz told The Sun.

Experts think that many taxi operators may not be able to sustain themselves beyond 2018 in the midst of facing stiff competition from ride-hailing services.

About 1,600 taxis were parked within the cab company depots in Rawang, Selayang, Kepong, Ampang, Pandan, Seri Kembangan and Shah Alam.

Abdul Razak said that taxi operators are having a difficult time because not only are they struggling to lease out new taxis but existing drivers are also returning their cars.

"Take for example, a new Proton Persona taxi with a cost of RM50,000 each. Imagine, if one operator cannot lease out 50 Persona taxis or have them returned (by the drivers)," he was quoted as saying.

"RM2.5 million lost is just for one small company. Think about the big taxi operators and the whole industry, as there will be some 20,000 abandoned taxis in the coming months. Think about loss of income by taxi drivers and also taxi operators having to service bank loans and other costs," he said.

A spokesperson for One Malaysia Taxi Services, which handles some of the biggest taxi operators in the Klang Valley, shed some light on this matter.

"With an average daily rental of RM70, taxi drivers usually do not make that much on a day-to-day basis. Some could not even break even," he was quoted as saying by The Malaysian Reserve (TMR).

"With a 40% to 50% drop in income, taxi drivers could still make ends meet. But now, many drivers have seen an 80% drop in their monthly income," he explained.

"Fares will continue to drop to cope with the competition. It means it is no longer feasible for drivers to eke out a living in the industry."

Many cabbies in Singapore have cited higher rental rates, stricter service standards, competition from Uber and GrabCar, and higher incidence of traffic summonses for falling out.

According to Dr Lee Der-Horng, a transport researcher with the National University of Singapore, taxi drivers have hopped onto the Uber and GrabCar bandwagon due to the failure of the existing system used by cab operators that have affected their livelihood as they could not gain a higher income.

"Having experienced the benefits of those taxi apps as compared to their own dispatch system, they switch," Lee was quoted as saying.

"In future, nobody will want to be a taxi driver. The government must do something."

According to a The Sun report on 10 October, taxi drivers have launched a donation drive to obtain funds to continue their legal fight after the High Court dismissed a lawsuit by 102 cabbies against SPAD over Uber, Grab and Blacklance activities and operations last month.

Taxi drivers had filed a civil suit against SPAD last year, claiming that the commission did not take proactive measures to ban ride-hailing services like Uber, Grab and Blacklane, which were apparently affecting their livelihood.

They intend to raise RM7,000 to file an appeal at the Appellate Court against SPAD before 25 October.

"We have been ordered by the High Court to pay RM5,000 to SPAD as cost after our suit was struck out last month and also we require RM2,000 as legal fees for our appeal process," Klang Valley Taxi Drivers' Action Committee president Zailani Isa Usuludin told The Sun.