The Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) has made it compulsory for 'e-hailing' service providers to submit their drivers' records to it, effective June 16.

In a statement today, Spad said the requirement was to enable it to screen the background of the drivers more stringently with the cooperation of other enforcement agencies such as Royal Malaysian Police and Road Transport Department.

"Aside from the records, Spad has also imposed, for the security of passengers, certain measures in e-hailing prior to the second reading on the amendment to the Land Public Transport Act in Parliament next month (July)," it said.

Spad held a meeting with representatives of Grab Malaysia and discussed about security measures for passengers following the arrest of a GrabCar driver suspected of raping a female passenger in his car at Bandar Putra Permai, Seri Kembangan, recently.

The commission had also directed e-hailing service providers to expedite the implementation of the panic button or "SOS" in their application. The panic button will be a security feature for passengers, where they could communicate information to the police in the event of an emergency.

"As a proactive risk mitigation policy, Spad has emphasised to e-hailing operators to use a more comprehensive identification process on the profile of the driver; it will enable them to identify and reject high risk drivers.

"Aside from that, e-hailing operators must also monthly submit data on drivers who had committed traffic offences or have problems of misconduct to enable Spad to blacklist them and prevent them from further seeking other e-hailing work," it said.

Spad said e-hailing service providers were also required to submit monthly data rating on their drivers to allow it to proactively resolve issues with regard to the drivers' service.

It added that it would not hesitate to take stern action against e-hailing operators and drivers should they flout the law, including confiscating their vehicles.

- Bernama