67,000 Malaysian Taxi Drivers to Get 1Malaysia Taxi Driver's Welfare Card

Some 67,000 taxi drivers throughout Malaysia will be getting their 1Malaysia Taxi Driver's Welfare Card (Kad Bantuan Teksi 1Malaysia) which began on Monday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also Finance Minister, said the card will be distributed by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) with the cooperation of the Finance Ministry, and involves funding of RM53.6 million (approx. US$13.8 million).

"I am aware that taxi drivers work more than 12 hours. What is announced today is the provision of Kad Bantuan Teksi 1Malaysia and BR1M for the taxi driving community to bring relief to all," he added.

More than 10,000 taxi drivers throughout the country attended the event in Malaysia Agriculture Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) where the prime minister handed out the cards.

The card has: -

• A RM800 stored value that can be used to purchase petrol or natural gas for vehicles, at Petronas stations across the country;
• Personal accident insurance coverage of up to RM50,000 by Mesra-AXXESS;
• Facilities under the Mesra Petronas loyalty programme that is eligible for drivers.

Taxi drivers have three months until July 16 to collect the card from any SPAD branch during working hours.

In Budget 2017, the government had announced an allocation of RM150 million (approx. US$38.6 million) for the Government Cash Grant (GCC) scheme, whereby recipients of individual taxi licenses who are eligible and had completed their lease contracts would get RM5,000 (approx. US$1,285) each.

"In Budget 2018, I also announced that registered taxi drivers who are qualified and intend to join e-hailing services would also receive GCC of RM5,000 to buy a new car," he said.

Najib said he understood the impact the industry was having with e-hailing and that the Government wanted to encourage healthy and fair competition between taxi drivers and e-hailing drivers.

Image credit - www.thestar.com.my