Transport minister says no plans to regulate e-hailing prices for now

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Putrajaya does not plan to control the prices of e-hailing vehicles at the moment, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said there were many complex factors that determined e-hailing fares, including demand and supply and that the government would prefer not to disrupt the existing policy for now.

“Variables such as traffic congestion, weather, distance, time, demand total and supply total directly determine the matching of bookings,” Loke said during Question Time in reply to Julau MP Larry Sng.

Sng who is from Parti Bangsa Malaysia wanted to know if the government will take follow-up actions after meeting e-hailing companies, particularly on measures to increase the drivers’ income.

Loke said raising the minimum wage for drivers would have repercussions.

“The implication is that fares to consumers will increase.

“And then you will also come to this House to complain that e-hailing fares for users have increased.

“So we need to look at a balance, that in e-hailing, it uses dynamic system pricing mechanisms that is dependent on demand and supply,” he said.

Loke said there were also times when the rates offered might be low but was still worth the driver’s time.

“The offer depends on the driver. It at non-peak times, when there is not much demand, the driver may or may not make an offer.

“So far, we maintain the existing policy, but we will continue to hold discussions with e-hailing companies so that we can find a method without the government putting a condition.

“But at the same time we also want to see what incentives the companies can give to drivers to increase their income,” he said.

Using Grab in Singapore as an example, Loke said that sometimes the e-hailing driver doesn’t receive any commission from a trip, but added that sometimes, it can go up by over 20 per cent.

“So, they asked us to cancel the ceiling limit. We have not made that decision yet because at this point our policy is that the ceiling limit of the commission that can be taken by the company is only 20 per cent,” he said.

He said that the government will look into ways it can create incentives for e-hailing drivers “from time to time”.