Cabbies to file court injunction to block Uber app and stop SPAD

KUALA LUMPUR: A court injunction to halt the Land Public Transport Commission's (SPAD) alleged plans to transform the taxi industry by legitimatising Uber and GrabCar apps will be filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court next week.
Klang Valley Taxi Drivers Action Committee chairman Zailani Isa Usuludin said the injunction will be filed on Dec 30.
"Enough is enough. We have been utilising many channels requesting the government to shut down the Uber and GrabCar apps as well as taking action against the app provider companies and so far it has been fruitless," he told theSun today.
It is learned that several details had emerged from the SPAD's month long taxi lab session to legitimise the Uber and GrabCar services by allowing private vehicles to operate as legal taxis alongside a revamp plan to revitalise the conventional taxi fleet.
Discontented with the move proposed by SPAD, the cabbies held a series of meetings since last week and decided that legal recourse is the next option to bring an end to the Uber app availability in the country.
Zailani Isa said the application of the court injunctions would serve two objectives, "firstly, to prevent SPAD from carrying out its plan to blend private vehicles and conventional cabs as part of the new image of the taxi industry."
Secondly, to obtain a court order to shut down the operation of the mobile apps acting as a matchmaker by offering "teksi sapu" (illegal taxi) services via private vehicles.
“So far both the government agencies, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and SPAD, have been passing the buck among themselves and refusing to heed our request to shut down the apps even though the transport services offered through these apps are illegal,” he said.
“But the government stated the app is legal, which is very strange.”
To date, several countries including Indonesia, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Germany have banned or shutdown the Uber app through court order and actions from local authorities.
The injunction by Malaysian cabbies, should it be successful, is seen as pre-emptive step by the taxi drivers to stop SPAD from tabling the proposed amendment to the Land Public Transport Act 2010 in Parliament in the next Dewan Rakyat session.
theSun had reported in July that SPAD was planning to table the amendment during the Parliament session in October which includes the provision to regulate mobile app providers offering any public transport, commercial transport and delivery services.