E-hailing services in Malaysia: Current practices and future outlook

Abstract

E-hailing services are known to be on-demand vehicle acquisition that relies on network dependency and use of a specific digital application through the Internet. The objectives of this study were to investigate the adoption of e-hailing services from the initial inception, issues in adoption and the direction of e-hailing services within the context of Malaysia. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) related to the e-hailing industry was used by employing the inclusion criteria of keywords generated from the literature data pool. The legalisation of e-hailing services in Malaysia had spurred the growth of the industry. With the establishment of the Transportation Network Company, which was a positive sign for e-hailing to continue to flourish, the industry was considered as a complement to the existing public transportation system. The growth projection showed that e-hailing services will continue to be part of the Malaysian transportation sectors and would remain competitive in contributing to the domestic economy. However, some barriers would deter the progress of e-hailing services, such as over-regulation by the government.