The newly-formed Pertubuhan Pemandu Berasaskan Aplikasi Elektronik Malaysia (PPBAEM) held its first annual general assembly yesterday, where it decided to put pressure on Uber and Grab to reform their employment practices.

The association said its first course of action would be to submit a memorandum to both ridesharing companies about the problems faced by their drivers.

According to PPBAEM vice-president Nic Lee (photo), these include unfair treatment, as well as an opaque reward and punishment mechanism.

Lee also claimed that some drivers do not receive sufficient payment during promotional periods when discounted rides are commonly offered.

"After I was alerted by a friend, I checked my driver’s wallet and found that three out of 10 free rides I had to do were not reimbursed," he told a press conference in Petaling Jaya.

The cost of discounted and promotional rides are usually absorbed by the ridesharing services, while drivers receive normal payment rates.

Lee also said that the two ridesharing companies have been largely unresponsive when such complaints were raised.

PPBAEM president Joseph Chan (photo) further alleged that there have been cases of drivers being terminated if a competitor’s app was discovered on their mobile phones.

“They will ban you if you ignore their SMS warning to uninstall the third party (competitor’s) application,” Chan said.

These concerns, he added, would be among the items raised in the memorandum to be submitted to the ridesharing companies.

Editor's note: The article has been amended to reflect the registered name of the association. We regret any confusion this may have caused.