Commercial licence test will not cause sudden change to e-hailing fare, Loke says

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — The implementation of the policy to oblige all e-hailing drivers to sit for the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence test will not cause the service fare to change abruptly.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said this was because the fare for e-hailing services was not set according to ceiling prices, apart from it being based on market demand.

“I do not see that it will change dramatically. Many say that if we make this regulation the fare will rise. That was what they said, but it does not come true.

“We expect when the e-hailing companies followed this regulation, the fares should be affordable and if they are not competitive, the passengers will not choose their service,” he said at the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Loke said this when replying to an additional question from Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar) on the implementation of obliging e-hailing drivers to take PSV licences which would cause different prices to the service passengers.

Meanwhile, Loke said 10,151 or 62 per cent from 16,338 applicants have passed and are eligible to apply for PSV licence as of April 1 to June 30.

“This number is expected to quickly rise by July 12 in line with the introduction of a digital course that has been conducted since 3 June 2019 at the approved training centre,” he said.

He was replying to the original question from Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (BN-Padang Terap) who wanted to know the mitigation measures taken by the ministry following a statement by Malaysian Grab Drivers Association dated May 14, 2019, which claimed that only 10 to 50 per cent of e-hailing drivers passed in each class test. — Bernama