THE government has no intention of regulating e-hailing service fares and the existing policy will be maintained for now, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said.

He said the government does not impose price controls or set floor prices on the rates given to drivers because the matter must take into account the drivers’ overall earnings.

“To me, raising the fare will have implications on the users’ fare… So we need to look at a balance because e-hailing uses a dynamic pricing mechanism, depending on supply and demand.

“The existing policy remains, but we will continue to communicate and hold discussions with e-hailing firms from time to time so that we can find an approach without the government imposing conditions, and see what incentives the companies can provide to drivers to increase their income,” he said.

Loke said this during the oral answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today, in reply to a question from Larry Sng (Julau-PBM) on the ministry’s follow-up action after meeting with several e-hailing companies operating in Malaysia to review fares that are said to be too low.

In response to a supplementary question from Khairil Nizam Khirudin (Jerantut-PN) on reforms for the taxi industry, Loke said operators have been encouraged to join the e-hailing system.

Based on the current policies on e-hailing services, he said private vehicle and taxi owners are allowed to participate in both the straight and e-hailing service systems. – Bernama, November 14, 2023.