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9 April 2016
Taxi drivers block KL roads over GrabCar’s RM1 promo
KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Some 500 taxi drivers staged another strike, blocking roads and causing congestion in the city centre as their protests against ride-hailing application services intensified.
The cabbies drove in convoys and gathered at several locations including KLCC, KL Sentral, Istana Budaya and even parked their vehicles along the busy Jalan Tun Razak near Lembaga Tabung Haji headquarters, blocking at least two lanes in the process.
The cab drivers were upset over the RM1 ride promotion by GrabCar. The week-long promotion, which started on Thursday and ends on Wednesday, see GrabCar passengers travel for RM1 for the first five kilometres.
The episode left motorists fuming as a similar protest took place on March 29 where taxi drivers lined their vehicles along the road and blocked two of the three-lane Jalan Bukit Bintang near Pavilion, causing a traffic standstill.
They had also wanted to pass a memorandum expressing their concerns to either Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his deputy Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar. Association for the Transformation of Malaysian Taxi Drivers (Persim) deputy chairman Kamarudin Mohd Hussain said the promotion was “unfair”.
“We are already losing businesses to GrabCar and Uber. Such promotions will further damage the industry,” he said.
“We gathered as we cannot tolerate the fact that the authorities are allowing such ride-hailing application services to continue operating. Drivers of such services do not even have the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence,” he said, adding that taxi drivers are scrutinised and undergo tests before they are given a PSV licence.
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TODAYVerified account @TODAYonline 60 minutes ago
Taxi drivers block #KualaLumpur roads over #GrabCar’s RM1 promo http://tdy.sg/1N0iKLl pic.twitter.com/iDYXS6vLAw
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– I Wont Blame The Taxi Drivers, But The Government Are The Main Reason For This Protest To Happen Today. Ubers And Grabcars Are Much More Cheaper And Affordable To Travelled. You Think What We Plucking Money From Tree Is it ? Go And Do Better Job Larq. –
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weehingthong 