Roughly 100 taxi drivers gathered outside the SPAD office today against the operation of Uber and GrabCar, which they claimed has affected their livelihood. One taxi driver also set a trap to catch a GrabCar driver.
One of the taxi drivers, Jay Rohezan used the GrabCar app to hire a taxi, to prove that Uber and GrabCar drivers were operating without a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence, thus rendering them illegal.
“I just booked this guy to see if he comes to SPAD headquarters or not. See these private hire vehicles, they are so daring already,” said Rohezan. As the grey Nissan Almera entered the SPAD compound, over 30 taxi drivers ambushed the GrabCar driver, but police and building security managed to break the crowd up. Two SPAD officers said that the driver would be arrested and action will be taken against him.
“They told us that they are going to bring him to the depot or main headquarters and process him. Hopefully, they take a stern action,” Rohezan added.
Back in July, SPAD said that the mobile apps and the ability of “service matching” was technically alright, the fact that the drivers operate without a PSV is wrong.
Photo credit: Kamles Kumar
