PETALING JAYA: A coming crackdown on taxi-like smartphone app Uber has many customers asking the authorities why they are not doing the same with errant taxi drivers.

Copywriter Sebastian Loh, 29, said Uber drivers were not only safer but gave better services.

“Cabs are by and large poorly maintained. The drivers try to negotiate the fare with you, and most annoying to me, refuse to go to this or that location.

“I have not met one Uber driver who is not polite or friendly. Cars are well maintained and (the service is) affordable. There is no way the fare can be negotiated,” he said.

Loh said a fair compromise between the Government, Uber and taxi drivers needed to be reached.

On Monday, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) said it was going to take action against private drivers using Uber to ferry people, though taxis and limo companies would be spared.

Taxi companies argue that Uber riders would not be protected in an accident, claiming that Uber drivers might not have the proper licences.

Web developer Nazrul Amri, 28, said he would rather have Uber around even if they had to deal with legalities.

He said some of his foreign friends had sworn by Uber and that he had no sympathy for taxi drivers who did not police their own.

“They can continue to complain about Uber cutting into their income but their sob stories are not my concern if they don’t rein in their black sheep,” he said.

Transit expert Moaz Ahmad said safety was a risk with Uber but just one compared to many that people faced with taxis.

“Uber customers are making the decision that meets their immediate interests,” he said, adding that while some taxi drivers would accept Uber, others would resist it to maintain a system that did not benefit users.

The Star journalist SS Yoga, who claimed he had been forcibly taken for a joyride by a taxi driver, said the industry was not going to change.

“They have promised many times before, despite previous incidents. It will just peter out,” he said.

Uber is a ridesharing smartphone app that charges users via their credit cards to hire vehicles to go from point A to point B.