KUALA LUMPUR: Conventional taxi drivers, particularly those in the Klang Valley, said their income has increased nearly double after they registered with e-hailing service providers.
Many of the taxi drivers said they received more customers through the e-hailing mobile application as compared to the traditional street hailing.
Rezki Malindo Wijaya, 28, who has been working as a taxi driver in the Klang Valley for over six years, said he managed to earn about RM3,000 to RM4,000 per month since he joined the e-hailing service providers.
"I used to earn around RM1,000 to RM2,000 per month, but after registering with one of the e-hailing service providers recently, I earn about RM3,000 to RM4,000 per month.
"But of course this depends on how many hours I work per day. The harder I work, the more I get," he said.
Lee Chuan Chin, 57, from Johor Baru, said that the e-hailing service had become popular with the people.
He said his income doubled from RM1,000 over to about RM3,000 per month since the e-hailing service was made available in Johor Baru.
"Instead of waiting by the roadside for a taxi people prefer to book for a ride through the e-hailing mobile application, which is more convenient and reliable," he said.
Rezki and Lee were among the 125 taxi drivers who received RM5,000 cash grants and approval letters for individual taxi permits from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, at Platinum Sentral here today.
The event was part of the Taxi Industry Transformation Programme (TITP) of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) which is aimed to improve the taxi industry in the country.
Nancy said the government urged ride-hailing firms, such as Grab and Uber, to give priority to conventional taxi drivers to encourage more such drivers to utilise the e-hailing mobile applications.
She said that taxi drivers who had registered with e-hailing service providers could get customers through the mobile application as well as continue with the traditional street hailing.
"We believe that conventional taxi drivers are more loyal in providing taxi service. They will not leave their job or cheat as it is their main source of income," she said, urging ride-hailing firms to give priority to conventional taxi drivers to attract more of them to join the e-hailing service provider.
She said that apart from Uber and Grab, there were 12 other e-hailing mobile applications introduced by local companies which allowed conventional taxi drivers to be more competitive and gain more income.
"I was informed that conventional taxi drivers who have registered themselves with the e-hailing services complained that they don't even have time to stop for a meal as they received too many customers.
"We thank the companies that managed to introduce the mobile applications to taxi drivers. This is very good feedback.
"I was also informed that the manners and image of the conventional taxi drivers has also improved," she said.
Nancy said that this year a total of 908 taxi drivers who ended their leasing contract with taxi companies had received individual taxi permits, and from the total number, 439 received RM5,000 cash grants.