Grab risks losing part-time drivers with new regulations

Kamles Kumar Kamles Kumar Updated 7 years ago · Published on 23 Oct 2018 7:00AM · 9 Comments

Grab’s country head for Malaysia Sean Goh says there has been a decline in drivers signing up because of the new regulations by the Transport Ministry. – EPA pic, October 23, 2018.

E-HAILING service Grab is at risk of losing a substantial number of its drivers if new compliance regulations imposed by the Pakatan Harapan government pose a financial burden to those working part time.

Several drivers that The Malaysian Insight spoke to agreed that the introduction of regulations like public service vehicle (PSV) licence, annual vehicle inspections at Puspakom and insurance coverage would only benefit those driving full time.

Alexander Leo Morris, who works as a Grab driver to supplement his salary working as an auditor, said the new rules would burden part-time drivers as it would eat into their already low earnings.

“Most of the part-timers only work for a couple of hours in a day. They already do not make that much. Maybe about RM500 to RM800 a month if they do it often,” Alexander told The Malaysian Insight.

“The total compliance cost for a year would run up to about thousands, people will be less interested in Grab because of this.”

He said the compliance costs have to be kept low to benefit all Grab drivers.

“Full-timers agree with these (regulations) as they are working on volume.

“For part-timers, it would be detrimental cause they only work for a couple of hours,” said the 27-year old.

E-hailing companies now need to register with the Companies Commission, or Cooperative Commission, and have vehicles older than three years inspected yearly under the new system.

Another part-time driver, who wanted to be known as Muhammad, said the inspection requirement was another unnecessary burden on drivers, who already have to bear full financial responsibility for their private vehicles.

Currently, more than 50% of Grab’s fleet is more than three years old.

Part-time driver Liew told The Malaysian Insight if the costs become too high, many part-timers would leave the service.

“If we cannot make enough money, why should we keep on doing this?

“This was a chance for us to make something extra on the side, but if this becomes troublesome, I would rather not drive,” the senior executive said when met at Bangsar.

A Grab company spokesmann declined to reveal the actual number of part-time drivers but said it numbered more than 80% of their “hundreds of thousands” of drivers.

Grab’s country head for Malaysia Sean Goh was reported as saying there has been a decline in drivers signing up because of the new regulations by the Transport Ministry.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced on Sunday that ride-hailing service Grab would be required to use vehicles approved by the government and pay for insurance and taxes, just like taxi companies.

The announcement came as a group of 10 taxi drivers shouted at Dr Mahathir at a dialogue in Langkawi to discuss concerns that e-hailing service Grab was taking away taxi drivers’ livelihoods.

The group walked out of the hall while Dr Mahathir was trying to explain to the constituents measures Putrajaya was taking to level the playing field for them.

Several Grab drivers expressed frustration at the taxi drivers’ demands, as consumers were the ones seeking an alternative for the poor service provided by taxis.

“Taxis were the ones who were dominating the economy before but they abused their powers like misusing the meter system and haggling with customers over the fare,” said Yaakob Ahmad, a full-time Grab driver for the past two years.

“That is why Malaysians sought out e-hailing services. Now they are complaining, this is unfair to us.” – October 23, 2018.

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Comments

  • Should ban all the taxis out from the roads. They served no purpose other than cheating, jam the roads and a nuisance to the public. Don't make life difficult for the rest of those who wanted to earn a decent living as well as to the safety and comfort of the commuters.

    Posted 7 years ago by Jackal Way · Reply

  • Taxi service must also adopt the e-hailing system without which it will stay in the old system which is subject to abuse by drivers and public complaints.

    Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Yes if you cant compete...just bugger off TaXIS

    Posted 7 years ago by Hantoo Blacklord · Reply

  • Through I empathise with the taxi drivers, but in this issue I believe they are to be blamed. Poor service and attitude, fares cheating and haggling and the inability to change and move with time. Like all dinosaur industry, they deserve to become extinct.

    Posted 7 years ago by Yoon Fatt Ng · Reply

  • More and more complaints on Grab drivers have been noted but they are kept out of the public eye because of the internal reporting system. We have heard cases of things like reckless driving, displays of anger towards the passengers, driving while having a hangover or being still drunk, strange behavior like jumpiness and nervousness as if being under the influence of drugs, going through red lights, etc. When a passenger has a poor experience they report it to Grab and consider it done. But there is no proper check and balance and precautions to PREVENT accidents from happening. It is unknown if Grab reports cases of alleged DUI to the authorities to facilitate spot checks, but this is in doubt because of the high possibility of false reporting exacting an un-restitutionable cost on drivers and the system.

    When Uber broke into the scene, their one selling point has been to use technology to break the traditional monopolies "protected" by regulation by simply offering something too promising to refuse: the use of real-time information to match riders with drivers creates a form of efficiency that the old system of waiting at taxi stands and calling taxi companies for drivers just cannot match. We should be proud that Grab competed well against Uber but now it is time to take the service further and improve on other aspects, such as the safety, and it is perhaps also time for other companies to think about competing against Grab for a share of the market, because even Grab cannot possibly serve all needs well.

    Posted 7 years ago by Robert Cheok · Reply

  • If say ,Grab has 300000 drivers both part time and full time ..with claims that 80% are part timers ..then u have 60k +- full timers who are seriously dependant on grab income.as it is i have receive complaints from friends who are full timers that they worked 10hrs per day (staggered)in penang but only receive on the average rm100 to rm150 GROSS! that is ridiculous given the effort and time spent. People are serious and dedicated with courtesy..extended ..open hind door for 6 seaters .strike intelligent conversation..assist passengers with luggages to be placed in car boot.,shook hands,hugs to elderly people.,push trolley to car etc. Without asking for 5 star from passengers or extra monies ...these are the drivers that can carry the image of grab company...not for the sake of chasing $ ..thus neglect or lazy to do what is need to make passengers feel great to pick Grab rather than other e hailing services.i believe workshop owners are laughing all the way to the bank due to many accidents among grabbers because of one thing on their mind...pls Grab .look into this matter

    Posted 7 years ago by Chow York shin · Reply

  • Grab is delivering good value and quality service while creating employment which can only be good for our economy. Why punish them because of a few loud taxi drivers unwilling to adapt to the new people logistics paradigm? It is time Anthony Loke take a good hard look at the two business model and avoid killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

    Posted 7 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply

  • Me as a grab driver for full time worker should be proud with the status I own right now. even with the low fares and high service to their passengers theyre just doing their job without get told to do that and that. its depend of how your willing and unwilling.so in fact you must be a diligent just to collect a small of money for our income without compromise in this case the taxi driver should be upgrade their system and compete with the positive vibe not with the old way like shout out and hang the banner..

    Posted 7 years ago by Faiz Arshad · Reply

  • When drivers were making money, grab just kept finding ways and means do reduce this and reduce that. Dropping the hourly block rwtes sbd reducing fares. From RM1.10 per km to 60sen per km and 20sen per minute. From RM4 minimum fare to RM2 minimum fare.

    Why is all this being done? Does grab really take care of their drivers welfare? I dont reli think so.

    Posted 7 years ago by Bryan Delgado · Reply