PETALING JAYA, July 6 — Taxi drivers are unable to upgrade their vehicles to new ones because of high purchase and maintenance costs, according to taxi drivers associations.

Kuala Lumpur Sentral Taxi Drivers Association president Badrol Hisham said the income of taxi drivers was not enough to help pay for vehicle maintenance.

“If he (taxi driver) is already finding it difficult to pay for maintenance, how do you expect him to buy a new car? I have known a few taxi drivers who resorted to loan sharks to pay for their taxis,” he said.

Badrol said taxi drivers serviced their vehicles every two weeks because of the high mileage clocked.

“They are faced with hardship. They already find it difficult to make ends meet, and with the new regulations outlined by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) to upgrade to new vehicles, it is absurd.”

Commenting on the rating of Kuala Lumpur’s taxi service as the worst in the world by the London Cabs website in its “10 Countries with the Worst Drivers” list, SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar had said that only about 2,000 taxi drivers in the city had complied with its guidelines to upgrade their vehicles.

Malaysian Taxi Drivers’ Transformation Association (PERS1M) deputy manager Kamarudin Mohd Hussain said the reason Kuala Lumpur  drivers were listed as the worst in the world was because of SPAD’s failure in its enforcement duties.

“I have seen many taxi drivers without their uniforms and not charging by the metre in the city centre. What is SPAD doing about this? It cannot just be us who should be blamed,” he said.

“At the same time, they are expecting us to improve our taxis when our salary is already so low. Many of us just can’t afford it.”

Kamarudin said taxi drivers had to fork out the rental of their taxis before getting their salaries released by the operating company. 

“The amount of rental they have to pay is between RM30 and RM40 a day,” he said, adding that SPAD should help push for a subsidy for the purchase and maintenance cost of new vehicles.

Mahendran Nadarajah, who has been a taxi driver for 15 years, said he did not have a choice but to upgrade his taxi because the engine of the old taxi blew up.

“I am paying about RM200 a day just for the rental of an executive taxi,” he said.

“The recent 15 sen fare increase was not much of a help. It is unfair that t raiy have raised it by 15 sen only after six years. This is why so many taxi drivers are overcharging and refusing to use the metre.”

Another taxi driver, who just wanted to be known as Allan, said he was only planning to change his taxi after driving it for seven years.

“I am only planning to do that because I will need to renew my licence then, and SPAD has made it a requirement for taxi drivers to do so. If not for that, I will stick to my current car,” he said.

Taxi driver Tan Chin Hwee said he had not been able to save enough money to buy a new car, even after working for more than 10 years.

“It is really difficult to save as a taxi driver. The amount that I have to fork out just for my old taxi is taking up most of what I am earning,” he said.

“Also, I heard from my friends that the quality of the new taxis is not that good. I do not want to be spending more on repairs and be without income while my taxi is in the workshop,” he said.