News & Reviews:   e-hailing

During the Engine Lubricant Contribution Program yesterday, our local Minister of Communications, Fahmi Fadzil made a statement that telcos need to do better in providing affordable internet packages to taxi and e-hailing drivers.

In case you missed it, a Malaysian passenger uploaded an image on Twitter X showing his disbelief. The image shows an e-hailing driver with his cardboard showing additional charges for using the vehicle's air conditioner.

For some reason, there is a surge of new e-hailing services in Malaysia. The latest player to come into the market is GV Ride (GVR). To make itself distinct from other competitors, it will introduce electric vehicle (EV) services in December. This marks the first company to offer such services.

When it comes to e-hailing services, most people will think of Grab. Well, it looks like we have another competitor in the market. According to sources, Bolt has already launched in Malaysia but without telling anyone.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook has revealed that his Ministry has never approved any e-hailing service provider in the country to use the price bidding system for passengers. He added that his ministry was not informed about the matter and has since directed the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) to investigate the matter.

Grab recently announced the launch of JustSave, which is a carpooling service that allows passengers to save money by sharing rides with other passengers who are headed in the same direction. For now, there’s only a maximum of 2 bookings per ride. Currently available in selected areas in Klang Valley, Malaysia, JustSave will be rolled out to more areas in the coming months. 

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has announced that all p-hailing drivers and riders will be required to contribute to the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS) under the Social Security Organisation (Socso). Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Wee asserted that the contributions will be made as a pre-condition for them to obtain a vocational license, which itself will be made mandatory.

The upcoming iOS 16 update will be coming to supported iPhones some time next month, potentially together with the launch of the next-generation iPhones. Unveiled during WWDC 2022, one of iOS 16’s most useful features has got to be ‘Live Activities’, a live notification on your lock screen that keeps track of things that are relevant to users such as the progress of an e-hailing ride, delivery orders and even the live score of sports games.

Grab Malaysia today announced the launch of Grab Intercity, a new service that allows users to purchase bus and ferry tickets via the Grab app. The service has over 15,000 routes to purchase tickets for, including direct bus routes to Singapore.

Previously, we reported on the reasons as to why e-hailing fares saw a sudden surge in Malaysia, with one of the reasons being an imbalanced supply-and-demand. Well, it looks like there would be a silver lining as two new developments may rectify the matter in the near future.