Penang taxi drivers, school bus operators get RM600 boost

GEORGE TOWN - Penang's taxi drivers and school bus operators will receive a one-off incentive payment of RM600 to ease their financial burden.

However, there were some new registration requirements to claim the cash.

Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Economy Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the payment would be made to all taxi drivers and school bus operators who met the criteria set by the state government.

He said that applications would be open throughout the year and the first payment would be made in March, depending on the number of applications received.

"Two new conditions will come into effect for applications starting in 2024, namely, the applicant must be a voter in Penang only, in line with other programmes under the i-Sejahtera system.

"The second condition is that the applicant must be registered with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) under the Self-Employed Social Security Scheme (SKSPS) for taxi drivers and self-employed school bus operators.

"The full list of requirements can be found on the i-Sejahtera website https://isejahtera.penang.gov.mysyarat.php," he said in a statement today.

Zairil said the SKSPS scheme for those working independently should be mandatory for all taxi drivers and school bus operators.

"This requirement is stipulated to assist all taxi drivers so that if anything undesirable happens, at least taxi drivers have insurance protection.

"As additional information, starting this year, contributors only need to pay 10 per cent of the contribution amount, as the remaining 90 per cent has been funded by the federal government through the 2024 Budget," he said.

He added that the state government has been providing incentive contributions to taxi drivers and school bus operators since 2013, and this year marks the 11th year of implementing the incentive.

"From 2013 to last year, the total amount of incentives contributed to taxi drivers and school bus operators amounted to RM16.56 million.

"The cumulative amount of this financial assistance of RM600 is in cash, with payments made twice a year, namely RM300 on Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri," he said.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, payments were made directly to accounts through electronic funds transfer (EFT).

"In 2022, the incentive payment method was upgraded and improved using the iSejahtera system.

"Applications are made online only by taxi drivers and school bus operators without the need to submit physical application forms and other documents.

"Instead, they only need to submit them online," he said.

He added that the state government hopes that the incentive contribution can reduce the burden faced by taxi drivers and bus operators in Penang.

"The state government also hopes that all taxi drivers and school bus operators in Penang can continue to provide the best service to all users," he said.