PARLIAMENT The Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) will continue to take enforcement action against ridesharing firm Uber, even as it is looking into formulating guidelines and policies to regulate this transport industry niche.

"Spad will continue to take actions like issuing summons and impounding vehicles of parties that break rules and regulations," said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri.

She said this in a parliamentary written reply to a question by BN's Setiawangsa MP Ahmad Fauzi Zahari, who wanted to know the current status of Uber ridesharing cars in the country, as well as government efforts to solve the ongoing feud between taxi drivers and Uber.

Nancy added that while enforcement is ongoing against the Uber service which has been deemed illegal it if uses private cars without proper commercial insurance and licenses to transport customers, steps are being taken to structure proper regulations for the service.

"Other than that, Spad is also working to formulate new policies to regulate and monitor systems that use smartphones and mobile applications for taxi bookings," said the minister.

She explained that several requirements and standards will be introduced to ensure that all service providers provide quality taxis and good service, which would benefit both drivers and consumers in the end.

Some taxi drivers are up in arms over ridesharing services like Uber which they claim is unfairly competing with them, undercutting them, and stealing their business.

Consumers and firms like Uber contend that the reason that ridesharing is popular is because they provide a better and more reliable service than regular taxis.

This has led to protests by taxi drivers as well as complaints to Spad, which is currently working to reconcile the matter.