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Big Blue sees red over Uber, Grab legalisation

KUALA LUMPUR — One of Malaysia’s taxi operators, Big Blue Taxi Services, threatened yesterday to give its full support to the new political party backed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, if the government does not review its decision to legalise ride-sharing firms Uber and Grab.

KUALA LUMPUR — One of Malaysia’s taxi operators, Big Blue Taxi Services, threatened yesterday to give its full support to the new political party backed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, if the government does not review its decision to legalise ride-sharing firms Uber and Grab.

Big Blue Taxi Services founder and adviser Shamsubahrin Ismail said cab drivers would no longer support the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition if it could not protect their rice bowl.

“This approval is a no-go for me. For the taxi industry, no-go, we will fight all the way. If Uber is legalised by the end of this year, we will 100 per cent support the new party, which is Parti Pribumi (Bersatu Malaysia),” he said.

The Malaysian Cabinet had given its approval on Wednesday for public transport regulator, the Land Public Transport Commission, to regulate Uber and Grab, which effectively legitimises the two ride-share entities.

This would involve amendments to laws involving relevant government agencies, which will be done at the Parliament sitting in November.

The government had said the inclusion of Uber and Grab services was essential for the transformation of the taxi industry and the people. Currently, there are about 77,000 registered taxi drivers in Malaysia, while there are no official statistics on the number of Uber and Grab car drivers.

Malaysia’s taxi associations have been unhappy with the emergence of ride-sharing services, claiming they suffer big losses and face unfair competition as the services remain unregulated while conventional cabbies face restrictions by law.

Mr Shamsubahrin, who previously accused Uber and Grab of “stealing business” from legitimate taxi drivers, said yesterday that cabbies cannot “rely on BN anymore”.

He expressed hope that Mr Muhyiddin Yassin, who is expected to lead the new party, will support and transform the taxi industry, which he described as “already crippled”. Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin submitted an application to register Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia on Tuesday. AGENCIES

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