KUALA LUMPUR: The government should relax the regulations for both e-hailing services and traditional taxi services as proposed rules would create significant new costs and barriers, says the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS). In its policy paper titled “E-hailing regulations: Striking the right balance”, it considered the economic impact of e-hailing in Malaysia, for consumers, drivers and the traditional taxi industry. “Overall, the paper welcomes the government’s approach of regulating rather than banning e-hailing services. • These negative consequences largely arise from the government’s approach of “copying across” existing regulations applied to traditional taxi services, which impose a high burden on that sector. • We recommend that the government take the opportunity for a “blank slate” approach: reforming the regulations for both e-hailing and traditional taxi services to make them more competitive.

Source: thestar November 29, 2018 02:37 UTC