Russian-founded e-hailing firms inDrive and Maxim have been placed under a three-month probation period after successfully appealing the revocation of their operating licences.
The Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) said the two companies were ordered to take corrective measures to continue operating, particularly regarding e-hailing vehicle permits (EVPs).
“To meet this condition, Maxim and inDrive have improved their registration system to ensure all of their drivers have valid EVPs before they can start operating.
“Both companies have also given Apad ‘view only’ access to their data to make it easier to cross-check their data on EVPs,” it said in a statement.
Apad said it conducted a random check on their drivers on July 11 and found that everything was in compliance.
The agency and the road transport department had found the improvements made by the companies satisfactory, and agreed to place Maxim and inDrive under a three-month monitoring period, effective tomorrow.
“To ensure the continuous commitment of both operators, their representatives are required to turn up at the Apad headquarters every month throughout the monitoring period.
“These sessions are aimed at allowing Apad to conduct real-time monitoring, with random checks conducted on drivers via the inDrive and Maxim applications,” it said.
In May, both firms were ordered to halt operations from July 24 after failing to comply with Apad’s regulations introduced in 2019.
In September 2022, the road transport department raided inDrive’s Malaysian office and discovered that the firm was operating with an expired licence.
In 2023, Maxim was also raided by Apad officers for allowing vehicles to operate without a valid permit.
