KUALA LUMPUR: Let two companies manage the government’s fleet of vehicles, instead of allowing one to monopolise.
The call was made by some industry executives, amid bids by companies backed by some of Malaysia’s biggest conglomerates as well as the previous concession holder.
In justifying their call, the industry executives said the past monopolistic practices had led to overcharging and sub-standard services.
“The previous party which held 25 years of concession in managing government fleet of vehicles had monopolised the business, overcharging and providing sub-optimal level of services. Therefore, it is best for the government to consider appointing two new concessionaires,” one of them told the New Straits Times.
This would minimise risk to the government in case of non-performance and lead to healthy competition to provide better services, he added.
“The government will reap the benefit of having benchmarking exercise to ensure that both concessionaires are operating at the highest level of efficiency in terms of cost and service. This will minimise the risk of leakages of cost and dissatisfactory service.”
Another executive said monopolies were no longer relevant to the current government policy.
“To demolish the concept of ultimate domination of one company over lucrative concession, the government should appoint concessionaires to create more opportunities for qualified companies instead of allowing only one to gain full access over huge economic cakes.
“This will help to enhance greater equality and transparent practices by the government,” he added.
The NST previously reported that following the end of Spanco Sdn Bhd's 25-year concession last year, the government had asked interested parties to submit request for proposal (RFP).
The likes of Hertz Malaysia, Avis Malaysia and even Spanco were understood to have submitted their RFP.
Shah Alam-based Avis Malaysia is backed by DRB-HICOM Bhd and Avis, which is a large car rental company globally.
DRB-HICOM partially owns Proton Holdings Bhd and Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
Hertz Malaysia, meanwhile, is operated by Sime Darby Bhd's unit Sime Darby Rent A Car Sdn Bhd under licence from Hertz Global Holdings Inc, another global car rental firm.
Naza Group and Berjaya Group, two family-driven conglomerates, had submitted a joint bid for the concession. Samling Group reportedly also submitted its RFP.
The government was looking at Proton, Honda and Toyota vehicles for use by ministers, deputy ministers, top civil servants as well as its agencies.
The deadline to submit the RFP was reportedly in March, with the outcome expected as early as next month.
The executives said the government may consider dividing the vehicles required by ministries and agencies between the two concessionaires.
“Each concessionaire will manage fairly total numbers of cars under selected ministries and agencies assigned to it. This way, a clear pool of cars can be managed in an efficient manner.
“This can ensure a smooth operation and administration of the fleets without any cross-function between entities involved,” they added.
They said it was very crucial for each ministry and agency to have full control and centralised fleet management with one concession only. This will create practical and efficient process flow between the goverment entities and the appointed concessionaire.
They said alternatively, the goverment may also consider dividing the cars according to brands or models.
“One concessionaire may take Toyota and Honda, while the other may take Proton, taking into consideration the numbers of cars,” they added.
They, however, said the alternative option would create difficulties in segregating the cars equally between the concessionaires.