Taxi counters told to open until 4am

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TERMINAL operator Semasa Sentral has warned Puncak Holdings Sdn Bhd, the company operating the taxi counter at KL Sentral, to keep their counters open until 4am.

A spokesman from Semasa Sentral, which manages the transportation hub, said the taxi counters in the terminal were not allowed to close early.

“We have instructed them to open the counter at the main entrance facing KL Hilton until 4am,’’ he said.

“Since construction work is being carried out at the ground level, the LCCT buses are allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at Level 2. “Hence we have allowed them to close the counter early. But the main counter must be open until 4am,’’ he added.

Disregard for the law: During the day, the taxi drivers follow rules and pick up passengers in an orderly fashion but at night (below) they flout the law and swarm buses to tout their service.

The spokesman said the terminal management acknowledged there were touts. “We are working with the Land Public Transport Commission ( SPAD) to investigate the matter,’’ he said.

Puncak Holdings chairman Datuk Aslah Abdullah blamed the situation on the construction work being carried out on the ground level of KL Sentral.

“The buses coming from LCCT and KLIA are supposed to drop off their passengers at the ground level. “However, due to the construction work they cannot drop the passengers there after 7pm.

“The buses have no choice but to drop their passengers off at the main entrance at Level 2. “Our coupon counter at the ground floor which caters to the passengers from LCCT and KLIA also have to close by 7pm,” he said.

Aslah said it was important for the buses to have a proper drop-off point to ensure that taxis could not jump queue or tout for passengers.

He said the main counter was also closed at 2am because the last train arrived at 1.30am and after that there were not many passengers.

“The only passengers who stop in KL Sentral after that time are those coming by bus from KLIA and LCCT. The buses do not carry many passengers at that hour,’’ he said.

“I cannot keep my counters open for 24 hours as we do not have business after 2am. “We also do not know what time the buses arrive and depart during those times so there is nothing we can do,” he said.

Aslah said there was nothing he could do about the touting problem and his traffic wardens did not have the power to take action. “They do not have the power to issue summonses to taxi drivers who do not follow the rules.

“They can only clamp taxis parked illegally. “Only SPAD can enforce the rules and punish those who tout for passengers,” Aslah said.

A SPAD statement said Semasa Sentral and the police held an operation on Oct 14 and booked four taxi drivers who were not using the meter. In the operation about 75 taxis were inspected.

SPAD said more checks would be carried out to curb the problem. Taxi drivers who refuse to use the meter can be fined not less than RM1,000 and not more than RM500,000 or jailed not more than two years or both.