ONLY 10,151 e-hailing drivers have passed the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence tests as of June 30, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

This is at around 62% out of 16,338 candidates, he told the Dewan Rakyat during ministers’ question time today.

“They sat for the tests from April 1 to June 30. Of this, 10,151 have passed the test to qualify for PSV licences.”

The ministry also expects the number of e-hailing drivers with the PSV licences to increase as the deadline comes to a close on July 12.

The government announced in November that all e-hailing drivers must obtain PSV licences similar to taxi drivers from January.

The drivers are given until July 12 to complete the PSV course and obtain their licences.

The course includes a six-hour class lecture at Road Transport Department-approved centres and a 60-question test.

Loke was replying to Mahdzir Khalid (Padang Terap-BN) on the measures taken by the ministry following Grab Drivers Malaysia Association’s statement that only 10%-50% of e-hailing drivers had passed the test on May 14.

Loke also dismissed suggestions that the PSV licensing fees were prohibitive to e-hailing drivers.

“The PSV course is RM200, while the licence itself is just RM20. Added to the insurance of RM300-RM500, we estimate that the cost is around RM800 per driver.”

The Malaysian Insight reported yesterday that the Malaysian e-Hailing Drivers Association expects one in two drivers out of some 170,000 to quit due to the extra costs in obtaining a PSV licence. – July 2, 2019.