PETALING JAYA: A total of RM20.6 million in aid has been paid out to 34,318 taxi drivers, the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) says, refuting claims by a group of cabbies that they have yet to receive the one-off RM600 payment announced by the government last year.
In a statement today, APAD said only taxi drivers with a valid APAD driving card were eligible for the RM600 under the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional scheme aimed at reducing their financial burden in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Therefore, based on the (number of) valid APAD driving cards, APAD has fulfilled its responsibilities by making the following payments: RM17.17 million for 29,447 drivers from April 2 onwards under the payment’s first phase and RM2.9 million to 4,871 drivers from July 14 onwards under the payment’s second phase,” it said.
Taxi drivers who had APAD driving cards valid until March 17 qualified for the payment’s first phase.
On May 23, the transport ministry agreed to allow taxi drivers until July 1 to renew their APAD driving card so as to qualify for the second phase of aid payments.
The minister Wee Ka Siong said this included an estimated 30,000 taxi drivers who were unable to receive the payment due to having a lapsed APAD driving card.
This July 1 cut-off date was later extended to July 27.
APAD also called on the taxi group to remind its members that driving without a valid APAD driving card was an offence.
In an article published in FMT yesterday, Gabungan Teksi SeMalaysia president Kamarudin Mohd Hussain said many taxi drivers have yet to receive the one-off RM600 payment.
He told FMT that among those affected were drivers of rented vehicles who were unable to provide certain documents and confirm their eligibility for the payment.- FMT