KUALA LUMPUR: The government and relevant enforcement agencies have been urged to suspend the permit and license of taxi drivers who take part in illegal gatherings allegedly to demand justice with regard to the issue of e-hailing service Grab.
Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) president Ajit Johl in proposing the matter deemed cabbies who organise demonstrations as giving off the impression that they are not willing to reflect upon themselves and improve their service.
He said taxi drivers who were once regarded as 'small ambassadors' of the country are instead appearing to act like gangsters and trying to cover-up their own failure to compete in an ever-developing market by pointing fingers at the government.
"Good, let them have gatherings or demonstrations because this will only prove to the rakyat and consumers that this group of people will never wake up and rise from their failure in offering high quality taxi service.
"Their image is bad right now, as seen by the rakyat, so organising demonstrations or gatherings will only affect their own livelihood.
"The best way is to rise from failure and improve their services so they can regain the trust of public transport users," he said when contacted by NSTP today.
Ajit was asked to comment on the proposed peaceful gathering by Big Blue Capital (M) Sdn Bhd founder Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail who is also a representative of taxi drivers in Malaysia.
It was said that the gathering will see the involvement of some 3,000 taxi drivers from around the country to fight for alleged injustice linked to Grab.
They also called for the sacking of Transport Minister Anthony Loke and Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah for their failure to solve the issue, hence angering taxi drivers.
Commenting further, Ajit said taxi drivers should face facts that choices made by the public today are somewhat driven by technological advancements and the change in business models with regard to the transport industry.
On that note, he deemed that services based on the concept of e-hailing was more transparent in terms of payment, user feedback and safety aspects, hence making it a preferred choice amongst the public.
"Previously, when cabs are needed, they (taxi driver) were selective because they had the upper hand in controlling market patterns, but all that has changed with the emergence of Grab and Uber.
"Since back then, the attitude of a majority of taxi drivers have not changed, they are harsh and rude, this includes the way some of them behaved when attending the discussion session with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad the other day.
"If they can be rude with a father figure of 93-years-old, what more with consumers," he said.