The wait is finally over for ridesharing service providers who have been seen as disruptors to the status quo by mostly taxi drivers in country. With a stroke of a pen, the cabinet today passed the law in parliament for ridesharing drivers to operate along licensed taxi drivers.

In a statement, Uber Malaysia welcomed the government’s recognition that ridesharing is a positive contributor to riders, drivers and cities, viewing this as a major milestone in the development of Malaysia’s ridesharing industry. Albeit with regulation in place overseen by SPAD, the new laws will lay a common framework for both parties to work and co-exist along each other to better improve the countries transportation system. Ridesharing has been the bane of many taxi drivers both here and abroad often accused of depriving them of their income, however many customers opt to use apps to hail a ride due to convenience and better condition vehicles.

Not all welcomed the technology, some European cities adopted protectionism instead of collaborative when faced with angry mobs of cab drivers, Malaysia will be seen as forward thinking in its effort, as these technology centred solutions will only get better and more efficient with even an autonomous public transport in the future.

In view of the passing of the law, Uber find the overall spirit of the regulations is clearly aimed at improving the entire industry – ultimately benefitting consumers. Sending a clear message that ridesharing is here to stay and will have the potential to go a long way towards solving urban mobility issues and transforming the country’s transportation landscape.

A major step by our government towards the nations aim of digitisation.