MELAKA, April 11 ― Malaysian computerised vehicle inspection company Puspakom is not a monopoly, argued parent company DRB Hicom Managing Director Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar.
Speaking during a briefing at the tail end of a media escapade organised by DRB Hicom, Syed Faisal pointed out that Puspakom was originally formed by the government in 1994 and was parked under one of the Finance Ministry's companies before the DRB Hicom merger in 1996.
“The government highlighted (Puspakom) as a monopoly business and we have been engaging with the government and they agreed that Puspakom was a company that was created by the government to ensure road safety.
“It's not like a monopoly business ― because it was created by the government, otherwise no one will do it. The government also formed an Act that governs how Puspakom behaves. That came across very well and we are keeping the business,” said Syed Faisal.
During the briefing, Puspakom Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Shukor Ismail also voiced his confidence that the company is capable of ensuring they can handle the inspection for e-hailing vehicles under the new public service vehicle directive issued by Putrajaya.
However, he advised e-hailing drivers to bring their vehicles for inspection before the July 2, 2019 deadline to avoid being caught in a bottleneck situation.
He added that Puspakom had spoken to all the relevant stakeholders including Grab, which is Malaysia's biggest e-hailing company since the fall of Uber.
“In Puspakom we take only vehicle inspections. The rest, such as insurance are being done by others. On that aspect in terms of capacity we are ready, as stated in our response to the statement issued by Grab.
“For e-hailing to complete necessary requirement, we introduced from April 1 until July 12,” said Mohamad Shukor.
He also said that certain Puspakom branches are now open seven days a week with some extending their operational time by an extra two hours a day to cater to the needs of e-hailing service drivers.
