Stiff competition forces cabbies to endure hard times

KUCHING: Many taxi drivers here claim to be struggling in making ends meet nowadays.

They are now calling for actions from the state government to revive the industry, which appears to be taken over gradually by e-hailing services Uber and Grab, which offer cheaper fares to passengers.

Chong Foo Seng, who had been a taxi driver for 25 years, said he had never suffered a blow as hard as the present situation, where he and his counterparts could only earn RM30 to RM40 a day.

As the 50- year- old pointed out that they had been forced to bear with the 90 per cent drop in business, a fellow taxi driver concurred with him, adding: “Most of the weekends, we get zero ringgit.” Chong said many of them could not help, but wonder how long they would survive.

“It’s way easier for Uber or Grab drivers to offer cheaper rates because they do not need to go through Puspakom (Computerised Vehicle Inspect ion Centre) inspection, which is expected of taxi operators every six months.

“It’s not just the inspection cost that we are not happy about; we have to endure the long queues at Puspakom almost all the time.

“There are simply too many vehicles waiting to be inspected – a good whole day would be gone for each inspection. Even worse, if we don’t get the inspection done on time, we would have to settle a late inspection penalty of RM300.

“Do not think that settling the penalty would cut it because you still need to get an approval letter from the JPJ ( Road Transport Department) fi rst,” he explained when met at a peaceful assembly staged by local taxi operators at the old State Legislative Assembly complex in Petra Jaya yesterday.

On the contrary, local taxi drivers do not have the same expertise and resources to come up with similar Apps to compete, said the letter, adding that this has reduced their potential customer base as the younger generations are keen on using Apps rather than using phones to call for taxis.

“To expect local taxis to compete with Uber or Grab is similar to expecting the local sundry shops to compete with Giants, Aeon, 7-Eleven and others,” it said.

As such, taxi operators suggested that the state government, with its digital economy experts and resources, devise an App similar to those used by Uber or Grab to revive the taxi industry.

On top of that, they also asked for the excise duty rebate policy for taxis be reinstated to bring down the operation costs.

They even cautioned that Uber or Grab might not be as cheap as they are now if taxis were to be driven out of business.

“All we are asking for is for the government to set in the system for us, the taxi drivers, to compete on equal ground with them ( Uber and Grab).

“Otherwise, we would see a day when there is no taxi service in Kuching and we would all be at the mercy of Uber or Grab,” concluded the letter.