JOHOR BAHRU: The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has detained and seized four e-hailing vehicles registered in Singapore driven by citizens of the republic for carrying passengers without a valid permit through the Special Op for Foreign Vehicle E-Hailing around the city since August 9.
JPJ director-general Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli said the vehicles involved, namely a Toyota Alphard, Toyota Vellfire, Toyota Hiace and Honda Spada, each driven by a citizen of the republic, were detected carrying passengers from Singapore and other countries entering Malaysia via the Singapore route for tourism purposes.
“The results of the inspection found that the vehicles involved did not have a valid operator’s license, were not registered as public service vehicles and did not have Malaysian road tax,“ he said at a press conference at JPJ Taman Daya here, last night.
According to him, all the vehicles were detained and seized under Section 80 of the Land Public Transport Act 2010 (APAD 2010) and are being investigated under Section 16(1) of the same act for operating public service vehicles without a valid operator’s license.
“There will be no more compromises for any illegal e-hailing vehicles operating in Malaysia. We will take this action to court for the process of confiscating the vehicle,” he said.
Also present were JPJ senior enforcement director Muhammad Kifli Ma Hassan and Johor JPJ director Azmil Zainal Adnan.
Aedy said initial investigations found that the drivers involved were promoting their services via social media, WhatsApp and Telegram applications, as well as stickers on vehicles, with travel charges much higher than the permitted rates.
He gave an example of Singapore-Johor Bahru travel charges reaching S$180 (RM591) per person for one trip, while trips to Ipoh were recorded at up to S$1,200 (RM3,946) for one trip.
“This operation is being carried out continuously to combat irresponsible parties from continuing to take advantage, besides ensuring the safety of passengers and the integrity of the country’s transport system is maintained,“ he said, adding that the same operation will be expanded to other states.
The public who have information about this activity are urged to channel it through the MyJPJ e-Aduan application or email to [email protected]. – Bernama
