Malaysia
Five Uber drivers caught in crackdown
An illustration picture shows the logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone next to the picture of an official German taxi sign in Frankfurt, September 15, 2014. u00e2u20acu201d Reuters pic

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 15 — The Road Transport Department (RTD) enforcement division has taken action against five vehicles operating under the personal driver app Uber since the start of Ops Teksi Uber 2014 on October 1.

A source from the RTD said of the five vehicles, one was confirmed as a private vehicle while the other four were hire-and-drive cars being investigated for misuse.

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The private vehicle driver was issued a summons and will possibly face a fine of between RM1,000 and RM10,000, as well as the possibility of a prison sentence.

The vehicle, a Honda Accord, was also seized for 30 days pending further investigation.

The four commercial hire-and-drive vehicles were returned to the owners with their documents seized and handed over to the Land Public Commission (SPAD) for further investigation.

According to the source, hire-and-drive vehicles have varying categories.

It is mainly differentiated by cars meant for the renter’s personal use or hire cars that are actually allowed to be operated by a designated hired driver.

If the cars were found to have the appropriate documents to be a hire-and-drive vehicle with a driver, there was a possibility that the vehicles would be allowed back on the road, said the source.

SPAD was not available for comment by the time Malay Mail closed for press.

The ops was launched earlier this month and handled by an undercover team of 30 personnel made up of enforcers from the RTD, SPAD and the police.

The enforcement team suspects Uber is reducing its activity by making the lower cost UberX service unavailable.

However, it is also believed that Uber is still making the service available to loyal long-time users of the app.

The operation against Uber drivers will be continued with a different approach, revealed the source.

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