BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Road Transport Department (RTD) ended the operations of an illegal e-hailing service with the arrests of 11 drivers and the seizure of their vehicles in a two-day operation, recently.
The drivers, aged between 20 and 50, were found to also be registered with legitimate e-hailing companies.
State RTD director Adenan Md Isa said investigations showed that the drivers used the mobile application InDriver – an e-hailing service available in over 30 countries and 300 cities.
He said checks with the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) showed that the company had not applied for a business mediation license to operate, making it an illegal e-hailing operator in this country.
"Based on our checks, the InDriver e-hailing service has been operating here for the past six months. We believe they are operating nationwide.
"The recent arrests are just the tip of the iceberg. We estimate that there are more than 200 drivers using the InDriver application in the state," he told newsmen at the state RTD office here today.
Adenan said the matter came to light following complaints from the Malaysia E-Hailing Drivers Association.
"Following the information received, our officers went undercover to understand the ins and outs of the InDriver e-hailing service before we moved in to take action," he added.
Adenan said further checks also showed that the company was having promotions to attract drivers to join them without any payment using the InDriver application, through which drivers can pick up passengers even without the public service vehicle (PSV) licence and the e-hailing vehicle permit (EVP), which is against the APAD Act 2010.
He said their fares were also relatively cheaper compared to other registered e-hailing services, allowing passengers to bargain over the price.
Adenan said according to the drivers, the InDriver application allowed them to find fares much faster compared to other mobile aps.
Others claimed they received full payment from InDriver, without any deductions, he added.
The company is believed to be based overseas with 46 million drivers worldwide.
"We are also investigating the company and will take necessary action against them, upon the advice from APAD.
"Our advice to the people out there is to use registered e-hailing services only as they are well protected," he said.
Those detained will be acted upon under Section 16(1) of the APAD Act 2010.
All the vehicles seized will be kept for 30 days under Section 80(1) of the APAD Act 2010.
If convicted, the drivers can be fined between RM1,000 and RM10,000, or receive a maximum one year imprisonment, or both, upon conviction.