Taxi apps in Thailand will lose points for giving jobs to drivers without public driving licences, or to vehicles that are not properly registered, from October 1. The Transport Ministry announced the new scorecard system yesterday, September 24.
The system, known in Thai as Samud Pok App (App Report Card), was presented at the Department of Land Transport (DLT) headquarters in Bangkok. All eight approved ride-hailing platforms attended: Grab, Bolt, inDrive, TADA, Maxim, LINE MAN, Lalamove and FINGOGO.
Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat chaired the meeting, joined by DLT Director-General Sorapong Paitoonpong. Siripong said the tougher enforcement would cover the platforms, their drivers and the vehicles used.
Offenders would face legal action, with penalties that vary by offence and may include prison, a fine or both.
Under the scheme, each platform starts with 100 points, according to Sorapong. A platform that loses more than 40% of its points will receive a warning.
A platform whose score falls to the “red card” threshold will have its certification suspended for three days in the first instance. If the problems are not fixed, the suspension will rise to seven, 15 and then 30 days. Certification may be revoked altogether if the breaches are found to affect the public interest.
Scores will be assessed every three months and reset at the start of each quarter. There are four initial categories of violation:
- Sending jobs to drivers without a public driving licence
- Sending jobs to vehicles that are not correctly registered
- Charging fares outside legal rates
- Other breaches of the law or of set conditions
Platforms will have the right to appeal, explain the facts and improve their operations to win back points or return to service. Sorapong said the scheme is not meant to punish operators. Its aim is to make sure every platform has oversight that keeps passengers safe and treats them fairly.
Siripong said the scorecard would let the government track each app’s performance continuously. The results will be used to decide legal and administrative action, from warnings to suspension or cancellation of certification for repeated or unresolved breaches.
The ministry will also coordinate with the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to take action under their own powers. Siripong said platforms must take responsibility for checking drivers and vehicles before letting them onto the system.
‘Done everything to help’
The minister said drivers have been moving into the legal system since the eight platforms signed a declaration of cooperation on June 29. Before then, the DLT issued an average of 2,915 public car driving licences a month. That figure has since risen to 8,839.
Public motorcycle driving licences rose from a monthly average of 2,271 to 9,383, which the ministry described as a more than threefold increase. Siripong said the figures showed the cooperation had produced concrete results.
The DLT has also shortened the licensing process. Obtaining a public driving licence and a criminal background check previously took from several days to more than 20 days, and up to about 45 days in some cases. It can now be completed in one day.
Sorapong said the department had extended its opening hours as a special measure. It has also worked with the platforms to book drivers into group appointments, and plans to open on Saturdays and Sundays if demand is high.
He said the DLT had done everything it could to help drivers and vehicles enter the system legally. From October 1, however, every service must follow the same law and standards, so passengers can be confident that every vehicle and driver is legitimate, safe and accountable.
After the deadline, drivers can still apply for a public driving licence as normal. However, platforms may not give them jobs until they hold one, and any platform caught doing so will lose points.
Only the eight registered apps have joined the scheme so far. The DLT said it is reviewing its regulations so that apps outside the system can be regulated in the same way.
The ministry said the measures are intended to balance passenger safety, platform accountability and fair competition. The goal is for app-based services to become a standard form of public transport that people can trust.
Similarly, the government is considering a minimum pay rate for delivery riders, a proposal that has drawn pushback from at least one platform.
Related news
- App-based drivers must get public driving licences by September 30
- Ride-hailing apps given one month to improve safety standards
- Thailand rolls out stricter ride-hailing rules from October
The story Taxi apps get scorecard system as licence rule bites as seen on Thaiger News.
