P-hailing riders must have Goods Driving Licence

PUTRAJAYA- The three amendments to the transport act requires p-hailing riders to have a Goods Driving Licence (GDL).

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the amendments to the Road Transport Act 1987, the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 and the Land Public Transport Act 2010 which will be tabled at the next Parliament session would also include lowering the age limit for p-hailing riders from 21 to 18 years old.

"Basically, the cabinet has agreed with the all the drafts of the amendments of the bill," he said.

He said GDL was very important because as it will allow the ministry to better regulate the gig economy.

"We do not want to burden p-hailing riders, the GDL license acquisition course will expose them to the law and regulation that has been set as well as to guarantee the safety of the riders.

“The government sees food delivery as an important source of income. As long as they have a Competent Driving License (CDL), they can apply for GDL. All agencies under the ministry have been instructed to deal with the stakeholders.

"We ask representatives from p-hailing, p-hailing operators (PHO) and others to participate because in this gig economy, all parties need to be united,” he said in a press conference after holding a dialogue session with p-hailing riders representatives at the ministry on Monday.

On the dialogue session, Wee said PHO needed to improve its communication with the riders to avoid disputes.

"I see that they do not understand how PHO’s calculation works. For example in June, some (payments) were not calculated and this technical error led to what happened (the strike)," he said.

Meanwhile, in another development, he said, the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) and agencies under the ministry have been instructed to sit down and discuss with the delivery community (e-hailing) and e-hailing operators (EHO).