Sunlight Unicablink Launches First GPS Enabled Taxi in Malaysia and Taxi Booking App

Deployment of GPS Enabled Taxi to Help Increase Taxi Drivers’ Income by 50 Percent

Kuala Lumpur, 6 February 2013 – Sunlight Unicablink, which is part of the Sunlight Taxi group of companies, today announced the official launch of the first Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled taxi dispatching system in Malaysia as well as the Unicablink taxi booking app.

The integrated GPS enabled taxi dispatching system will take job orders received from the call centre and automatically assign them without human intervention, to the nearest available taxis in the area. Taxi drivers can respond by placing their bid for the order as well as locate their prospective passengers through the GPS system. This results in faster response time from the point of order to passenger pick-up as well as better customer service.

From left to right: KC Choi, Executive Director of Sunlight Unicablink; Choi Teo Men, Founder of Sunlight Unicablink; Abdul Jalil Bin Maarof, Executive Chairman of Sunlight Unicablink; Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar, Chairman of Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) and Choi Wei Yee, the Executive Director of Sunlight Unicablink launching the GPS enabled taxi dispatching system in Malaysia and Unicablink taxi booking app.

According to Choi Wei Yee, the Executive Director of Sunlight Unicablink, “The deployment of GPS system is aimed towards better management and efficient usage of our taxi fleets. We also want to help our taxi drivers build a stronger and more stable income. With the GPS system, the income of taxi drivers can increase as much as 50% as they no longer need to drive around aimlessly to look for passengers or compete with other taxi drivers for the same passenger”.

She added that the response from the taxi community towards the GPS enabled taxis has been encouraging since its introduction. To-date, more than 1,000 Sunlight taxis have been fitted with the GPS system. By just paying a small monthly fee, taxi drivers can subscribe to the GPS system and will be trained on how to use the system, regardless they are under the Sunlight taxi group or not.

Daniel Podiman, CEO of PT Express Transindo Utama Tbk exchanging the signing document with Abdul Jalil Bin Maarof.

Also launched simultaneously at the event, is the Unicablink Smartphone app for taxi booking. The user-friendly app is aimed to make taxi booking more convenient for passengers, so they can book their taxis online via their mobile devices without having to worry about not being able to get through to a taxi call centre. The smartphone app is available for iPhone and all Android based devices and can be downloaded from iTune app store or Android app store.

Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar, Chairman of Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) lauded Sunlight Unicablink’s innovations and efforts in helping to transform the taxi industry in Malaysia.

“The taxi industry plays a pivotal role in the image of our nation and with many people depending on public transportation for their daily commute, I am encouraged to know Sunlight Unicablink has taken steps to advance the taxi service in our country as well as improve the income of taxi drivers with the GPS system and taxi booking app,” said Hamid.

In conjunction with the launch, a memorandum of understanding was also signed between Sunlight Unicablink and PT Express Transindo Utama Tbk, a taxi company in Indonesia to enable their taxi booking app to be used by both companies in their respective operating markets. Under the agreement, Malaysian travellers can use the Unicablink app in Indonesia to book Express taxis and Indonesian travellers can use the Express Cab app in Malaysia to book Sunlight Taxis.

“At Sunlight, we believe good taxi service comes about when taxi drivers are able to earn a decent income and our aim is to provide a quicker turn-around for taxi booking and a more efficient income generation for our taxi drivers. We hope to rebrand taxis as a trusted and personalized transportation service while also helping taxi drivers to build their own business. With our GPS enabled taxis and the taxi booking app, we hope this can bring us closer to our goal. Our next step in this innovation journey is to enable fare payment via TouchnGo and credit cards for the taxi passengers”, ended Choi.

At the same event, Sunlight Unicablink received the official certificate from the Malaysia Book of Records for offering the First Integrated Online Taxi Booking Service with GPS.

To demonstrate their commitment in Corporate Social Responsibility, Sunlight Unicablink presented donations amounting to RM20,000 as well as 300 packets of BMS organic noodles to House of Joy and to Pusat Jagaan Orang-orang Kurang Upaya dan Terbiar and Pusat Jagaan Kanak Kanak Sayang as part of their ‘Caring through Sharing’ program at the event.