Budget 2009: Reduced road tax a 'drop in the ocean'

KUALA LUMPUR: The government may have reduced the road tax fees for buses and taxis to just RM20, but operators are still unhappy.

Konsortium Transnasional Bhd (KTB) executive director Tengku Hasmadi Tengku Hashim said the reduction was "just a drop in the ocean" and does not really help bus operators.

"The impact is very small, it's peanuts. Every month, KTB spends RM3 million on diesel alone. This is apart from the subsidised diesel. So, a RM280 reduction does not help us."

Road tax for express buses cost RM300 previously.

Tengku Hasmadi said the government should instead look into the diesel quota subsidies which would be more beneficial than a reduction in road tax.
Taxi Operators Association chairman Datuk Aslah Abdullah said instead of reducing the road tax, the government should have just scrapped it.

"Why do we still have to pay road tax when the government has increased the price of petrol and diesel? They should just abolish road tax."

Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association president Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali also touched on the road tax standardisation.

"The government needs to clarify this. Will the stage buses have to pay more now?"

Stage buses were previously charged RM2 for road tax.

However, all the key players in the public transport industry welcomed the proposed Public Land Transportation Commission, describing it as timely.

"The public has suffered for a long time. It's about time we have a proper commission to improve the public transport service," said Aslah.

He said there should be no further delay in implementing the commission.

"The government now realises that putting everything under the current 13 agencies does not work," said Ashfar.

On the RM3 billion soft loan, Ashfar hoped that Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd would be lenient and would not impose stringent restrictions on bus operators.

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd intercity services general manager Sarbini Tijan welcomed the move to provide efficient public transportation services which he said would benefit the low-income group.

Rangkaian Pengangkutan Intergrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RapidKL) executive director Suffian Baharuddin appreciated the measures taken to develop new public transport infrastructure.

The Federation Of Malaysian Consumers Association chief executive officer Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman lauded the government's focus in Klang Valley and Penang where traffic congestion was at a peak.