KUALA LUMPUR: Owners whose cars were confiscated by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) for operating illegal taxi services and awaiting court verdict are in a fix as banks are after them to pay their outstanding loans.

Many of them are new vehicles used for offering illegal taxi services via Uber, GrabCar and other transport apps in the past 11 months.

Even after the court delivers its verdict by stripping the ownership of the private cars, the owners would still have to pay the outstanding loan to banks.

As at July, among the 53 private cars awaiting court verdicts are Mercedes Benz models (E200, E230 & S280), Nissan (Teana, Sylphy & Almera), Toyota (Camry & Vios), Honda (Accord, City & Jazz), Hyundai Elantra, Kia Optima K5, Perodua Myvi, Proton (Saga & Preve) and other new models of foreign brands.

Under Section 16 of the Land Public Transport Act 2010, it is an offence to operate or provide public transport service by using a private vehicle without license and an order for forfeiture shall be made by the court.

"When the order of forfeiture is given, the legal and beneficial title of the vehicle shall be vested or passed to SPAD," said a SPAD spokesperson.

"When the vehicle is forfeited, it becomes the property of SPAD. Like any other property, the vehicle can also be disposed of in various ways. Among others, it can either be tendered off, auctioned or sold back to the accused or previous owner at market value," he added.

However, it is unclear whether legal representatives have been extended to the affected private car owners by Uber Malaysia and MyTeksi Sdn Bhd.

Unknown to many, there is also a clause in the hire purchase agreement that a private vehicle is not meant for transporting passengers and charging a fare.

During the special Ops in the past 13 days, the commission has also seized 13 cars for offering Uber and GrabCar services at various locations in Klang Valley including in city centre, Sunway, Damansara, Kelana Jaya, Puchong, Bangsar dan Subang.

With the latest crackdown, the total number of impounded vehicles sent to the SPAD's store yard in Sepang is 96 cars.

It is learned that several car owners were unlucky as their vehicles were seized by SPAD, after family members or friends offering "teksi sapu" services without their knowledge.

According to SPAD, Section 80 of the Act empowers the enforcement officers to seize a vehicle that voilates section 16.

"If the offender is an individual, the person shall be liable to a fine of not less than RM1,000 but not more than RM10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both," said the spokesperson.

On the other hand, if a company contravenes Section 16, it shall face a fine not exceeding RM100,000.