KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — Kuala Lumpur taxi drivers are the world’s “worst drivers imaginable” due to their penchant to overcharge and not use their fare meters, according to a recent ranking by a British cab site.
The site London Cabs said taxi drivers in Malaysia’s capital often charge customers well above the average rate either by refusing to use a taximeter or by taking longer routes.
On the site’s “10 Countries with the Worst Drivers” list, it advised travelers in Kuala Lumpur that they would be better off opting for a different vehicle should drivers refuse to use a taximeter, adding that cabs were often in “old and poor condition” as well.
Rome’s taxi drivers came in second due to the scarcity of cabs available on its streets, however commuters have also complained about having to pay double or triple the average fair when it rains.
Third on the list were Bangkok’s inexperienced cab drivers who always take travelers on longer routes mainly because many drivers are out-of-work farmers who were unfamiliar with local streets.
“Rude and difficult” Parisian cab drivers were ranked as the fourth worst taxi drivers in the world while cabbies in New York came in fifth due to many drivers being unfamiliar with the city’s sprawling network of roads.
Mumbai taxi drivers came in sixth followed by taxis in Zurich, Cairo, Shanghai and Moscow.
This comes amid an ongoing protest by some 300 local taxi drivers who pledged to turn off taxi booking app MyTeksi and refused to provide services for one week in a protest against private car booking services like Uber and GrabCar.
The cab drivers have demanded that the transport-hire mobile applications be suspended immediately as it was compromising their livelihood by providing cheaper and more efficient services.
The group added that private cab companies like Uber and GrabCar went against various rules set by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) as their drivers need not undergo health screenings or obtain a public driver’s license.
