KUALA LUMPUR: The new policy allowing city taxis to pick up passengers from the KL International Airport (KLIA) has put pressure on airport limousines who have to deal with stiff competition and higher rental prices, DAP said today.
“The problem with the new policy is that usually city taxis pay a rental fee of around RM50 per day, whereas airport limousines must pay RM153,” Liew Chin Tong, who is Kluang MP, told reporters today after a meeting with the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).
“Limousine taxis are squeezed on many fronts; they don’t get decent arrangements. They get a 1.6 CC Persona car and pay up to RM270,000 over five years for their daily payment.”
He said this was why he, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun and several limousine taxi drivers met with SPAD chairman Syed Hamid Albar today – to appeal for the government agency’s intervention.
“We are here to ask Tan Sri to look at reducing the rental immediately, especially during [fasting] month, where there are less passengers. He agreed to look into this matter.
“We would also like SPAD to take a regulatory role over the airport limousines as there is no one regulating them at the moment. It is treated as an agreement between company and driver.”
Liew said that while Syed Hamid had not committed to any agreement, he was happy the chairman had listened to the taxi drivers’ views and would continue to engage with SPAD over the matter.
But he stressed that despite these issues, he welcomed the new policy, which was announced Monday, because it helped to reduce energy wastage.
He also urged for SPAD to be placed under the Transport Ministry rather than the Prime Minister’s Department, in light of the cabinet announcement slated for later today.
Airport taxi drivers signed a contract document without understanding the legal implications.
Under this system, the airport taxi drivers need to pay RM153 in rental per day to the company, Airport Limo (M) Sdn Bhd regardless of their earnings.
Each airport trip takes three hours (to and fro), the maximum trips that a driver can take is four a day in order to cover the payment to the company, car maintenance, leaving them with an average nett profit of RM20 per day.
According to the detailed itemised receipt made available to us by the drivers, the breakdown of charges is as follows:
sub charges – welfare : RM5.00
sub charges – SPB : RM19.69
sub charges – rental : RM95.00
sub charges – radio : RM3.00
sub charges – HP : RM20.00
STBM : RM10.00
Pick up (per trip) : RM6.00
Insurance : RM1.00
To all Malaysians who created the GE14 miracle, keep fighting. We will be back stronger.