Govt Providing 4,000 PSV Licences For Free To B40 Group - Loke

Photo credit: The Malaysian Reserve
According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, the government is providing 4,000 free Vocational Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licences to the B40 group through the MyPSV programme.

He told Bernama that 3,500 PSV licences were for e-hailing and taxi drivers, while the remaining 500 were for PSV bus drivers and involved an RM2 million allocation. The initiative, according to Loke, was introduced to help the B40 group, who must pay RM2,590 to obtain a PSV bus licence, as well as to address the needs of the transportation sector, which has a persistent shortage of bus drivers.

“The country needs thousands of bus drivers, not only by Prasarana (Malaysia Berhad), but also express bus and stage bus companies in the country.

“I am made to understand that some express bus companies are experiencing a shortage of drivers and one of the factors that do not attract people to become bus drivers is because of the low salary,” he added. Loke stated that the initiative was part of the government's responsibility and commitment to provide people with opportunities and space to improve their socioeconomic status and household income through job opportunities in the public transportation sector. “This programme will also directly support and improve the survival of the public transport and tourism sectors in the country,” he said.

He stated that the MyPSV programme could aid in the production of competent and safe bus, taxi, and e-hailing drivers because eligible applicants would be required to go through training and tests to ensure their competence before being issued a PSV Vocational Licence and allowed to drive public service vehicles. Candidates for the MyPSV Bus programme must complete the Vocational Theory Course, Training, and Practical Test (covering circuits and roads), while candidates for the MyPSV E-Hailing Programme only need to complete the E-Hailing Theory Course, he confirmed.