Competition from Grab, Uber should not be reason for cabbies to quit

The existense of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Grab should not be used as reason for the taxi driver to resign.

Instead, it should serve a stimulant for them to improve their services, said Big Blue Capital (M) Sdn Bhd adviser, Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail.

He is of the opinion that discipline and attitude play important roles in the services business.

"Taxi drivers who are disciplined and have good attitude will continue to survive," he told a press conference here Tuesday.

On Monday, a local daily reported that as many as 10,000 conventional taxi drivers in the Klang Valley might have returned their taxis to respective companies over the past few months due to competition from ride-sharing apps.

Concurrent with his view, Federal Territory and Selangor Taxi Operators Association president, Datuk Aslah Abdullah said the taxi driver had to accept the phenomena as a norm for any kind of industry.

"Driving taxi is not like those with permanent salary, it's normal to have up's and down's in income, and I am confident genuine taxi drivers will not give up that easily," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Aslah did not deny there was indeed, stiff competition faced by taxi drivers, in the face of Uber and Grab.

"It's the same in the previous years where we faced a fight from the 'kereta sapu' (pirate taxi), but we can still manage to make a living if we live the right way and sincerely," he said. -- Bernama