KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Drivers with Riding Pink are already abandoning the e-hailing service ahead of the July 12 deadline for them to get public service vehicle (PSV) licences, the firm asserted.
Riding Pink, a women-only e-hailing service. said it was helping its drivers apply for the PSV licence the Transport Ministry mandated, but many are reluctant due to the financial investment required.
“However, the moment they heard that the total cost could reach up to RM1,000, we started receiving requests to drop out.
“The process deters drivers from continuing with the service,” Riding Pink’s senior operation and project manager Elina Ariffin was quoted saying by local daily New Straits Times (NST).
Aside from the cost, e-hailing firms previously complained that the deadline for drivers to be certified by July 12 was too short.
The PSV module for e-hailing drivers only became available from April 1, 2019 at 211 driving academies and e-hailing centres nationwide, NST previously reported.
Riding Pink said it has already closed 20 accounts from drivers who quit, with Elina explaining that the process of complying with the new requirements was difficult for the company’s part-time drivers.
Elina noted that many Riding Pink drivers were women from the low-income B40 group that are either driving or at work, while the centres they had to visit to fulfil the requirements are open only on weekdays.
The new requirements include undergoing a six-hour training session at driving centres accredited by the Road Transport Department at a fee of RM200 for the PSV licence, getting initial and annual vehicle checks at Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centres (Puspakom).
Diff Ride chief executive officer Hannah Yong noted that only 25 per cent of the company’s drivers were full-time drivers and questioned how many would stay on, predicting a 90 per cent reduction in the company’s number of drivers when the new requirement kicks in.
MyCar founder Mohd Noah Maideen, whose company serves 1.3 million passengers daily, suggested an extended timeline and staggered process where drivers would not have to fork out money for the various processes in one go.
Grab Drivers Malaysia association president Arif Asyraf Ali said about 30 per cent of the e-hailing company’s drivers are part-timers, noting that talk among drivers was that part-timers will generally opt out.
“Drivers, be it part-time or full-time, will just find alternative jobs that do not require licences, such as food delivery services,” he was quoted saying by NST.
The Transport Ministry has said the new rules for e-hailing drivers will be enforced from July 12 onwards, with enforcement action to be taken on those who fail to comply.
