Food Delivery Riders Say No To GDL License, Want Better Rates Instead
The bills are expected to be tabled in Parliament’s October session.
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The p-hailing community is unhappy that delivery riders have to apply for Goods Driving License (GDL).
P-hailing is defined as services involving the delivery of food, drinks and parcels using motorcycles.
Persatuan Penghantar P-Hailing Malaysia (Penghantar) said in a statement that the requirement will burden delivery riders.
P-hailing courier motorcycles are required to go through the Computerized Vehicle Inspection Center (Puspakom) inspection process. It will be categorized as a commercial vehicle, and will cost more due to the commercial vehicle insurance policy.
Penghantar on why the GDL requirement for p-hailing is a bad idea.
In addition, motorcycles will depreciate more when resold.
Furthermore, the process to change the status of a commercial vehicle to a personal vehicle is complicated.
Penghantar said delivery riders will have to go through bureaucracy in the process of obtaining GDL and Puspakom inspection.
Penghantar was responding to an announcement by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong that the government will amend three transport acts that will require p-hailing dispatchers to have a GDL license.
Wee, who is also MCA president, said the requirement was not meant to burden delivery riders but to enable his ministry to keep track of their numbers.
The Transport Ministry and its agencies have obtained green light from the Cabinet to amend three acts to regulate food delivery services.
Amendments to the Road Transport Act 1987 [Act 333], the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board Act 1987 [Act 334] and the Land Public Transport Act 2010 [Act 715] will be presented in the next Parliamentary session.
It will also involve lowering the age limit of p-hailing riders from 21 to 18 years old.
Other Needs Are More Pressing
At the same time, Penghantar also emphasized that the government should look at the bigger issues, namely the issue of wage rate delivery riders.
READ MORE: Food Delivery Boycott Fails, Riders Continue To Work
They also want the government to look into issues of discrimination by service providers against p-hailing shippers.
Meanwhile, Wee had also drawn brickbats from netizens.
They said he failed to help the rakyat and is doing the opposite instead.
Others warned that the GDL requirement will lead to lower number of delivery riders, resulting in higher delivery charges eventually.
Wee Ka Siong menteri paling banggang krjn BN. Isu cabotage dia sabotage sampai kan peluang perniagaan dan peningkatan internet di Malaysia pun terggangu
— themediaxpress (@themediaxpress) August 9, 2022
rider panda & grab kena buat GDL pulak?
— иⅰк™ (@kiNk0p) August 9, 2022
jarang tak bangang bila Presiden MCA bukak mulut..
However, some supported the idea as delivery riders are prone to accidents, partly due to haphazard riding including breaking red lights.
Bagi aku bagus ada gdl ni ted. Kereta grab dah ada. Motor kena ada jugak. Safety wei. Budak budak ni moto terbarai pun sesah grab. Ni dah kira kenderaan komersial. Kalau takde pemantauan, barai wei. Ni bukan gdl lori, dorang gile keeee
— K (@eh_keyel) August 9, 2022
Ada jumpa budak Grab, accident time delivery food terkena tulang belakang terus lumpuh. Muda lagi.
— Nabila 🇵🇸🇲🇾 (@syaabellaa) January 23, 2022
Kadang risau tengok rider food delivery ni langgar lampu merah. https://t.co/MY3BZYz8Rb
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