Goods Driving License (GDL) Compulsory Soon For P-Hailing Riders

P-hailing riders involved in the food and parcel deliveries might have to apply for a Goods Driving Licence (GDL) soon.

This bit of news was stated by the country's transport minister, Dr Wee Ka Siong, during his meeting with the e-hailing and p-hailing reps earlier this week.

*Image credit: Hari Anggara

Better regulation for p-hailing services

The next Parliament meeting will see three legislations to be amended, which are the Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333), Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 [Act 334], and Land Public Transport Act 2010 [Act 715].

Once the amendments are done, only then will the GDL licence requirement for p-hailing riders be enforced. Dr Wee also added that the requirement might be viewed as a burden for food and delivery riders, but it'll offer better monitoring for the Ministry of Transport in the future.

*Image credit: SoyaCincau

Protection & insurance for riders

Apart from making sure that the p-hailing sector remains competitive, the implementation of the GDL licence is to ensure better welfare and insurance protection for the riders and drivers involved.

This, however, might slow down the recruitment of new riders as it involves some extra steps like training, inspection, insurance coverage, document submission, and more. On the other hand, some form of regulation should in theory be good to ensure better overall safety.

Right now, the minimum age to apply for a GDL licence is 21 years old. One of the amendments that will be proposed in the next Parliament meeting is to lower the eligibility age from 21 to 18 years old, targeted towards the youths within the p-hailing sector.