Those who commute in taxis will have to dig deeper into their pockets as the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) plans to hike taxi fare rates.

Announcing this yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the move is to help taxi drivers cope with the increasing cost of living.

He said taxi drivers are incurring higher operational costs and the increase will help alleviate their burden.

"With this, I hope taxi drivers will be able to enjoy a better quality of life," he added after handing out 500 individual licences to taxi drivers at the Spad headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

NONE At a press conference later, Spad chairperson Syed Hamid Albar said the proposal to push up taxi fares is nearing its final stages, but declined to disclose the quantum involved.

"We hope to present the fare review before the end of the year," he added.

Syed Hamid stressed that the government will work to improve the taxi service in view of the fare hike.

"There is no two ways about it, you cannot get the best if you want to maintain the low cost (of fares)," he said.

The existing flag-off rate for budget taxis is RM3, with 10 sen for every subsequent 100 metres.

Service to improve with fare hike

On a possible public outcry over the hike, Syed Hamid claimed that many young commuters welcome the move if it meant that the service will improve as well.

"I think there is that good perception and positive attitude. We hope we can move towards that," he added.

Taxi drivers have long complained about having to pay high rental fees to taxi companies.

Syed Hamid said the government has decided to include a financial package to go with the Proton Exora, including zero downpayment, because past experience showed that taxi drivers might not be able to afford a new car even if they were issued with their own licence.

NONE Although the vehicle may not be resold and the licence is not leasable, the said licence holders may nominate a second driver to share the licence and vehicle with.

A total of 1,000 cabbies have received individual licences as of today, along with goodies such as a RM5,000 grant by Yayasan Rakyat 1MDB for purchasing a specially-fitted Proton Exora multipurpose vehicle.

In addition, they will be allowed to ply the lucrative routes to and from KL International Airport.