KUALA LUMPUR: After almost four years in limbo, the Dego Ride motorcycle taxi service is now officially back on the streets of Klang Valley, Putrajaya and Shah Alam on the first day of the new decade.
Here’s what you need to know about the local start-up company which introduced the first bike e-hailing service in the country.
WHO ARE THEY?
Dego Ride was founded by Nabil Feisal Bamadhaj, who is also the chief executive officer of the company, in 2015.
It launched its service in November 2016 and had about 5,000 riders registered with the company at the time.
After three months of operations and completing 20,000 bookings, the motorcycle ride-sharing service was banned by the previous Barisan Nasional government.
Then-Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi cited safety concerns by pointing out the number of road accidents in 2016 as the reason which compelled the former administration to ban the service.
RE-ENTRY INTO THE MARKET
Dego Ride announced last year that it would resume its services following Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s proposal for Indonesia-based company, Gojek, to enter the Malaysian market.
This follows the announcement by Transport Minister Anthony Loke in November last year that the government would allow ride-hailing firms to start motorcycle hailing operations on a limited scale for six months, starting Jan 2020.
Loke had said that during the period, ride-hailing firms would be able to run their operations or proof-of-concept (POC) in Kuala Lumpur to prepare and test their service.
FIRST AND LAST-MILE CONNECTIVITY
Nabil said the Dego Ride will offer a solution to the current first and last-mile disconnect from the nearest public transportation systems for residents in the Klang Valley, Shah Alam and Putrajaya.
The company says to date, it has received applications from more than 4,000 applicants who are keen on becoming Dego Ride riders. It said that after a series of vetting, only 700 applications were approved on the first day the company resumed its operation.
WHO CAN BECOME RIDERS?
Only Malaysians aged 18 and above with a full B2 motorcycle license and free from any criminal records are eligible to become riders with Dego Ride.
Only those who own motorcycles above 150cc can apply to become riders with the company. Applications from those with modified motorcycles would not be accepted.
HOW TO BOOK A RIDE?
Passengers can book a ride by downloading and registering with the Dego App from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Male and female passengers would be assigned to riders of respective genders.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
The service is only available for travel of not more than 10km radius from the passengers’ current location.
Passengers would be charged RM3 for the first 3km ride and RM1 for every subsequent kilometre.