We won't partake in unethical practices, says Asia Mobiliti co-founder

Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti) co-founder Premesh Chandran has defended the firm’s role in Selangor Mobility’s demand-responsive transit (DRT) service.

“We’ll be issuing a full statement on Monday (May 27). Rest assured, everything is above board, we would not partake in anything unethical or underhanded,” he said in a social media post.

Premesh (above) was responding to questions on possible preferential treatment since Asia Mobiliti chief executive officer Ramachandran Muniandy is the husband of Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.

On Monday, Selangor state Investment, Trade and Mobility Committee chairperson Ng Sze Han said Asia Mobiliti was one of two companies selected for the DRT pilot project.

He added that both companies had been approved by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad).

Premesh, who is also Malaysiakini director and former CEO, said he joined hands with Ramachandran to form the mobility tech company in 2018 with the aim of improving public transport.

“As a CEO with a solid background in business and software development, Ramachandran has done a great job building a superb team, winning awards, and securing multiple funding rounds.

“We are really proud to have best-of-class software and hardware solutions, built in Malaysia by Malaysians. The dream is to get public transport working better in cities, so that we have fewer cars and reduced carbon emissions, with affordable and quicker transport for all,” he added.

What is DRT?

As for the DRT project, Premesh, in a statement to Malaysiakini, said it sits between a fixed route-based bus service and app-based e-hailing services and serves as a first-mile, last-mile solution around commuting hotspots, often replacing feeder buses.

“Like e-hailing, a user can use an app to call a vehicle to a pick-up spot. However, the vehicle - normally a large van or small bus - will only drop the user within a defined zone, and the vehicle can pick up other passengers if there are requests nearby.

“The zone normally includes common places nearby such as an LRT or MRT station, universities, shops, etc.

“For the user, they get point-to-point service they are familiar with as part of e-hailing, at a low fixed cost, like a bus fare. For the government, since the vehicles are utilised according to demand, fuel and operating costs are reduced, especially when many buses are running empty during off-peak hours,” he explained.

Premesh said the Selangor government is trying the service in eight zones with high demand and narrower roads.

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