PUTRAJAYA: E-hailing companies found to have charged passengers more than the allowed fare surcharge amount can be suspended or even have their licences revoked, says the Transport Ministry.

       Its minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said numerous complaints by commuters about exorbitant e-hailing fares have triggered a Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) investigation into the matter.

       “We are investigating this matter to see if it is true that some e-hailing companies have violated the allowed surcharge amount, which has been set at 200% of the base fare,” said Dr Wee.

       “If found to be true, we will not hesitate to take action on the operators. Their licences can be suspended or even revoked,” he added at a press conference on Wednesday (May 25).

       Dr Wee said the 200% surcharge limit was a policy set by the Transport Ministry in 2019, before his tenure.

       “This is a policy that we inherited from before. If you ask me whether the surcharge limit needs to be reviewed, that requires another process,” said Dr Wee.

       He added that there are more than 25 registered e-hailing operators and passengers have the right to choose a different company if one is charging expensive fares.

       Dr Wee also lambasted a claim made by operators that the high demand causing the lack of available e-hailing cars on the roads is due to the recent Employee Provident Fund (EPF) special withdrawal scheme.

       “I want to clarify that the Transport Ministry does not side with e-hailing companies. Recently, they claimed in the media that the lack of available cars is because of high demand and also a shortage of drivers,” he said.

       “They claimed that demand is high recently because people have just withdrawn RM10,000 from the EPF special scheme. This is absurd and I have asked APAD to investigate this,” added Dr Wee.