Suffering losses, bus operator groups ask for govt intervention amid rising costs and soaring operating expenses

KOTA BARU, Jan 29 — The Malay Express Bus Operators Association Peninsular Malaysia (Pembawa) and the Pan Malaysia Bus Operators Association (PMBOA) have urged the government to immediately intervene and help express bus service operators who had to bear losses due to increased costs and soaring operating expenses.

Pembawa president Laili Ismail said this was because uncontrolled cost increases had caused unhealthy competition among bus operators who raced to lower prices to attract consumers without thinking about the long-term effects, thus disrupting market prices.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has led to cost increases such as a 39 per cent increase in bus body prices, a 44 per cent increase in bus chassis prices, and a 25 per cent increase in spare parts prices.

“Although there has been an increase in passengers by up to 80 per cent, nearly approaching pre-Covid-19 levels, some bus operators are still experiencing financial crises due to rising operating costs,” he said at a press conference at the Ekspres Perdana operations office here, today.

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Commenting further, Laili said bus operators also faced a shortage of drivers because Malaysians were more inclined to work abroad, such as in Singapore, which offered significantly higher salaries.

“Almost all terminal managements have now adopted the Centralised Ticketing System (CTS) such as the Klang and Shah Alam terminals in Selangor, Ipoh in Perak and Larkin, Johor, resulting in operators having to pay a 10 per cent commission charge or an average of RM5 for each ticket sold.

“In addition to the burden of commission allocation, Online Ticketing Agents (OTAs) and CTS also increase the operators’ burdens through delayed payments for ticket sales, taking seven to 19 days, thus disrupting the operations of operator companies unable to turn over capital because funds are not received within the appropriate timeframe,” he said.

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He said Pembawa and PMBOA had also sent a memorandum to the Ministry of Transport and the Land Public Transport Agency on December 21, 2023, regarding improvements to express bus service categories and specifications, but there had been no response so far.

“We are real industry players willing to bear millions of ringgit in debt to provide transportation services for the convenience of the people in this country.

“If immediate action is not taken by the government, express bus operators will face closure, leading to thousands of employees and bus drivers losing their jobs, thus depriving the people of the convenience of express bus services,” he said. — Bernama