PUTRAJAYA, Feb 23 — Effective next month, 35,000 taxi drivers and 18,000 school bus drivers nationwide will benefit from Social Security Organisation (Socso) subscriptions, which will be fully paid by the government, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
He said 90 per cent of their Socso subscription will be borne via a Finance Ministry allocation, while the Transport Ministry (MOT) will pay the remaining 10 per cent for one year.
"We understand the Finance Ministry has allocated RM100 million to Socso for the subscription of up to 90 per cent for taxi drivers, e-hailing, p-hailing, and so on.
"The remaining 10 per cent has to be contributed by the drivers themselves. So for the taxi and school bus drivers, we will fork out the 10 per cent contribution for a year," he told a media conference after the ministry’s Sua Kasih Madani programme today.
The move is to provide social protection to taxi and school bus drivers in the event of an accident.
Elaborating on the matter, Loke said he discussed with Socso about implementing the initiative, as well as the list of taxi and school bus drivers from the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad).
"We expect to launch this initiative next month. That means taxi drivers and school bus drivers do not have to contribute a single cent (for Socso subscription) for a year, they just have to register their names,” he said.
“For those who are already registered (with Socso), with the 10 per cent from MOT, they also do not have to pay a single cent," he said.
— Bernama
