Dego Ride is the newest ride-sharing service to enter Malaysia, and it is already making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The motorcycle-based ride-sharing service has been ordered to stop operating in Malaysia by Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.
The Transport Ministry had earlier declared Dego Ride illegal, and instructed the Road Transport Department to clamp down on the service. However, in the spirit of a true ride-sharing service, the company continued to operate. Dego Ride Founder and chief executive officer, Nabil Feisal Bamadhaj, had earlier said that there is nothing to stop Dego Ride as there are no provisions in the law for this sort of thing.
Interestingly, Dego Ride has already backed down from offering transportation services since it was declared illegal on 24 January. A blogpost on the company website indicates that it was transformed into a package delivery service. It also says that the company is looking to work with authorities to re-establish the motorcycle taxi service.
Ride-sharing services have been largely out of the news as Parliament has yet to take the next step in regulating the new industry. This was supposed to take place late last year, although there has been precious little news about the guidelines that were meant to be set down.
Both Uber and Grab had initially faced opposition similar to that of Dego Ride. The two companies eventually wore down the government’s resistance to the idea, and are currently operating in a legal grey area while Malaysia’s legislative bodies work on creating regulations.
In theory, this should have also applied to Dego Ride – which has been running since November 2016. However, JPJ director-general Nadzri Siron has said that his department’s objection is due to concerns for public safety. The fact that Dego Ride uses motorcycles instead of cars sets it apart from other similar services as SPAD does not issue licenses for motorcycle-taxis.
[Source: The New Straits Times]
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