PUTRAJAYA: Although the new ruling on e-hailing drivers by the Road Transport Department (RTD) will be enforced as planned this Saturday (Oct 12), Transport Minister Anthony Loke said there was no need for drivers to change their vehicle category from private vehicle (AB) to e-hailing private vehicle (AH).
“This will be done automatically via e-hailing vehicle permit (EVP) system under the Land Public Transport Agency.
“The information will be automatically changed in the system once the driver obtains the e-hailing licence,” he added.
Loke said the issue had sparked confusion among drivers and players in the e-hailing industry.
“I’m sorry for all the confusion and the problems caused.
“My apologies to the e-hailing drivers who had gone to the RTD offices and also RTD officers who had to face unhappy drivers,” he added.
Loke said the AH categorisation would be used by the Road Transport Department (RTD) to register public service vehicles into the MySIKAP system
“The RTD introduced the AH code for private e-hailing vehicles only for the purpose of registering the vehicles in the MySIKAP system.
“Therefore, I would like to stress that AH will not be reflected in drivers’ car grants. So, there is no need to worry.
“This move is for RTD’s administrative purpose, to identify e-hailing vehicles from others,” he said during a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters here.
The Malaysian E-Hailing Drivers Association (MeHDA) yesterday released a statement to request for leeway from the ministry over new requirements for e-hailing drivers.
Its president, Daryl Chong, said the announcement of the regulation came as a surprise.
Loke also said that there was no need for e-hailing drivers to print out their eVP.
“Their eVP licence number will already be in the MySIKAP system.
“They can, however, print it out for reference,” he said.
Loke added that enforcement would be carried out in stages from Saturday (Oct 12).
“This doesn’t mean that through enforcement, we will be checking every car right away.
“We will carry it out in stages. Our aim is to make the process easy for the drivers and not disrupt the e-hailing industry,” he added.
As of Oct 8, he said a total of 113,118 candidates had registered for the EVP course and 54,483 drivers had passed and obtained their licences.
Loke also said the ministry had agreed to approve the PSV licences for 57 deaf applicants under Method 21 of the Public Service Vehicles Regulations.