Grabbing in Malaysia? You will need to submit a selfie first. As part of the compulsory measures to safeguard both drivers and passengers and to tackle safety issues in Malaysia, the Malaysian government has announced a new regulation which require passengers to upload a valid identification card or passport details for using ride hailing services with a grace period of a year. With that, Grab has adopted the facial recognition technology to meet the new rule with the launch of the passenger verification feature which require all grab users to submit a one-time selfie in order to use the app in the country by 12 July 2019. For Singaporeans who are using the application, those who has signed up before February will not need to undergo the facial verification process.
Featured Image Credit: Soya CinCau
There were several Grab and Uber related crimes reported previously, ranging from molestation, rape, robbery, harassment to murder cases. With the new requirement, it was reported that passengers related crimes on grab’s platform had reduced by 30%. It has also help to crack a robbery-cum-murder case involving a Grab driver, Mr Mohd Hanafiee Jaafar who was robbed and killed on the job last month in Malaysia. The incident created some public panic among the drivers who have avoid post-midnight trips and areas which were deemed dangerous thereafter.
Other Safety Measures for Ride Hailing Service in Malaysia
Stringent background screenings were also implemented since 2017 to ensure that drivers have safe driving records and clean criminal records. The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has also identified about 1,000 ride hailing drivers with criminal records with details provided by the relevant authorities. Grab has also introduce safety initiatives like the pilot in-car CCTV cameras for female ride-hailing drivers to ensure job-safety and for the event of a dispute, ride sharing function with with real time location tracking link and other booking details, as well as the PDRM button with the function to connect to the nearest police station with the click of a button in the event of an emergency.
Image Credit: Paultan & VulcanPost
Similarly to Singapore’s Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational License (PDVL), all drivers providing ride hailing services in Malaysia are required to register for a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) License from January 2019 onwards. According to the Malaysia Transport Minister, Mr Anthony Loke, drivers are given up till 12 Jul to complete the PSV course for their license and new regulations will be coming up to ensure healthy and fair competition in the industry.
Singapore Ride-hailing Safety Performance
In Singapore, Grab is utilizing and measuring the safety performance with the Quality of Service(QoS) of taxi operators which includes performance indicators like safety and driver conduct with the following factors taken into account: driver caused accidents and traffic offences. According to the Point-to-Point Transport Services Customer Satisfaction survey commissioned by the Public Transport Council (PTC), there is a dip in satisfaction with private hire services in Singapore last year for areas like driver services and safety. According to Bloomerg, there are 37,000 pdvl holders in Singapore as of 1st Nov 2018.
Driving for grab or other ride hailing apps in Singapore? How do you feel about the safety measures implemented by our neighbors? Will it helps to safeguard both the passengers and drivers in Singapore as well? Do share your thoughts with us in the comment section below!
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