IPOH, Oct 21 — The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has a strict set of rules for the calculation of fares for hired cars nationwide.

SPAD chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohd Kamal said all hired cars were required to follow the fare structure approved by the commission’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

“According to a Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board circular issued in 2009, a fee of RM2 is charged for opening the car door, plus an extra RM1 charged for every kilometre of the journey,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Yesterday, Malay Mail reported many taxi drivers in Ipoh were unaware of the rate charges guidelines set by SPAD, which had caused many passengers to lodge complaints.

However, Nur Ismal said SPAD regularly organised engagement sessions with its stakeholders, holding seven such meetings with the taxi associations in Perak between June and Sept 2014.

The meetings were concentrated on educating the drivers and the methods of calculating the fares.

He said SPAD could take action on drivers who failed to adhere to the laws under Section 75 of the Land Public Transport Act 2010 if the public lodged complaints with the commission.

Asked about the frequency of checks on hired car rates, he said the commission carried out enforcement activities on a monthly basis.

“The enforcement is not only confined to hired cars but includes other modes of transport like buses and lorries,” he said.

On displaying hired car rates to the public, Nur Ismal said SPAD encouraged all associations to display the rate of the fare in terminals as well as at taxi stands.

However, he clarified there was currently no legal requirements to do so.

Nur Ismal said SPAD was also studying the possibility of revamping the hired car system in Ipoh and was currently looking at the option of reintroducing metered taxi systems among the hired car services.

Meanwhile, hired car drivers in Ipoh said they would have no problem with a fixed hired car rate.

“They have to call all the taxi associations together and hammer out a rate guidelines for the public. This meeting cannot be a one-off occasion either as we need to keep discussing the rates and how to provide better service to the people,” said Amanjaya Rental Car Driver Association secretary Hassan Arshad.

He said it would be good for SPAD to update the public transport system in Ipoh.

However, he urged the commission to take the welfare of taxi drivers into account, while also decrying the possible reintroduction of metered taxis.

“It will be very difficult for us to make ends meet with a meter-based system. For the passengers, meters could be more expensive than flat rates depending on traffic,” he said.

“The problem with meters is they keep running even when the car is stationary. This could be very expensive for passengers during peak hours.”