Uber has accused the Road Transport Department (JPJ) of protecting Kuala Lumpur’s ‘unreliable taxi drivers’ after the department announced a crackdown on the service next month.
The department had said that it would weed out private vehicles that offer taxi-like services beginning Oct 1.
Uber said such a move would not help solve KL’s issues with public transportation, the Malay Mail Online’s Melissa Chi reports.
Its regional general manager Mike Brown told the news portal via email yesterday that the crackdown was ‘clearly an attempt to protect the taxi industry that has failed its customers in Kuala Lumpur’.
“Preventing our driver partners from earning a living and getting people safely and reliably around town doesn’t just hurt the residents and visitors, it hurts the city.
“Uber is providing safer, cheaper and more reliable transportation options for riders and we’re creating more opportunities for drivers,” he was quoted as saying.
He added that Uber would stand by its driver partners ‘100 per cent’.
The Star Online reported yesterday that JPJ will begin hunting down drivers who use private vehicles as public transportation.
Those found guilty of committing the offence – under Section 16 of the Land Public Transportation Act 2010 – could face a fine of up to RM10,000 or a year in jail.
The report said taxi and limousine operators using the Uber service however would not be penalised.
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