APAD To Regulate P-Hailing Riders’ Income, Says MOT

The Ministry Of Transport has agreed to allow the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) in tackling issues pertaining to p-hailing service providers. 

This has been included through the Land Public Transport (Amendment) Bill 2023 which has passed unanimously after the bill debated by nine senators at the parliament earlier on April 10. 

According to Bernama, the Land Public Transport Act 2010 (Act 715) has been amended which involves the government as decision maker upon the regulation of goods vehicle services (GVS), including the use of motorcycles in p-hailing services. 

Deputy Transport minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah further said that they are aware of the manipulation issue of p-hailing workers and decided its best to have the government hands in regulating this industry. 

‘’In the future, [related issues] will be regulated by APAD,” he said in his winding-up speech in Dewan Negara today.

Aside from that, the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (Amendment) Bill 2023 also has been spoken of recently and aims to provide for p-hailing vehicles as goods vehicles which are subject to an intermediary business licence.

From there, the transport ministry has prepared a draft curriculum along with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) for p-hailing riders to obtain a vocational licence.

Separately, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook also talks about matters related to  e-hailing fare floor price. According to Loke, he insists on not intervening in the issue and letting it be decided by the market. 

"We understand that they have requested the government to set the floor price for e-hailing. So far, the proposal is still in the discussion stage, and there is no decision yet," he said at a press conference after chairing the National Logistics Task Force meeting No 1/2023 here on Tuesday (April 11).

He further asserted that if there is a floor price, fare prices may increase, so it is a consideration that needs to be taken into account too, as reported by The Edge. 

‘’If we let the market determine the price, there is dynamic pricing between the EHO, drivers and passengers," he added.