MALAYSIA’S gig economy has come a long way from being seen as a side hustle. Ride-hailing and delivery services contributed an estimated RM9.9 billion to Malaysia’s GDP in 2023, or about 0.5% of total GDP.
Beyond the headline figure, the sector supports small businesses, merchants and communities, while helping to solve first-mile and last-mile gaps that remain a practical reality in daily life.
When drivers face prolonged pressure, the effects do not stop with them. Despite all these contributions, the system which is supposed to protect them continues to extract from them, even as their margins shrink.
Licensing fees remain fixed. Insurance remains inflexible. Costs continue to rise. Earnings do not keep pace. The industry is at a breaking point, and if not properly managed, we could see hundreds of thousands of these hardworking men and women become collateral damage to an industry already busting at its seams.
The Gig Workers Act 2025 may now be in force, but legal recognition alone does not ease the daily pressure on the people who keep this sector moving. For many drivers, the issue is no longer whether their role is acknowledged. It is whether that recognition will lead to reforms that make gig work more sustainable in practice. While the language of protection has advanced, the financial pressure on drivers remains.
E-hailing insurance continues to be costly and inflexible. Licensing fees remain fixed. Compliance requirements continue to grow. Yet take-home earnings do not always keep pace with these pressures. Drivers are still being asked to absorb a cost structure that many can increasingly feel but have little ability to control. This matters not only for workers, but for the wider economy as well.
Legislative progress, while important, should not be treated as the end of the reform conversation. The government has spoken consistently about fairness, inclusion and protecting workers in a changing economy. Those principles now need to be reflected in the practical economics of gig work. Recognition is an important first step. But for many drivers, what matters just as much is whether meaningful relief follows.
That requires asking the reform questions that remain unresolved. Why are ride-hailing and p-hailing drivers still expected to carry fixed licensing costs even as operating conditions become more demanding? Why do many still have to rely on insurance models that do not reflect how gig work is performed? And how long can worker protection be discussed in principle without equal urgency being given to the cost pressures that continue to shape daily earnings? These are no longer secondary issues. They go to the heart of whether Malaysia is serious about building a fair and sustainable gig economy.
We call on the Madani Government to act immediately on two fronts:
– First, waive all licensing renewal fees for ride-hailing and p-hailing drivers.
– Second, fix a broken insurance model by enabling affordable, daily or usage-based coverage.
For some time now, there has been broad recognition that traditional insurance structures do not fit gig work particularly well. Many drivers do not work fixed schedules. Some drive full-time, others during selected hours, and many work depending on household needs, caregiving responsibilities or other jobs. Yet many still face rigid, high-cost insurance arrangements that do not reflect that reality.
Drivers should not be forced into rigid, high-cost insurance structures that ignore the realities of gig work. The current system prices flexibility out of reach. The call for daily or usage-based insurance deserves much more serious attention. It is not an unreasonable request. It is about aligning protection with the actual structure of gig work.
A more adaptive insurance framework would make protection more relevant, more accessible and more realistic for the people it is supposed to serve. If the need for this has long been recognised, then the next step should be to move more decisively towards implementation. A government-led reset, working with insurers and platforms, is overdue.
Licensing is another area where there is room for more practical reform. Renewal fees may appear administrative on paper, but for drivers managing uncertain income and rising operating costs, they are a recurring burden. If costs are rising, the least the system can do is stop adding to them. This is a direct, immediate intervention that requires no reinvention, only political will.
This is not about short-term optics or temporary relief. It is about fixing the underlying system so that drivers are not perpetually exposed to rising costs without adequate protection or support. Sustainable policy must outlast political cycles and deliver real, measurable improvements to livelihoods.
The Madani framework speaks of fairness, compassion, and shared prosperity. Those principles are tested not in stability, but in moments like this when pressure is real, and action is required.
The next phase of reform should therefore focus less on recognition alone and more on practical measures that improve the lived reality of gig work. Insurance reform deserves greater urgency. Licensing costs should be reviewed seriously. The broader promise of a fairer gig economy should ultimately be judged not only by legal recognition, but by whether workers experience real improvement in their day-to-day lives.
Malaysia’s gig drivers have already done their part. The government has an opportunity to act quickly, visibly, and meaningfully to show that economic participation will be matched with economic protection. – April 17, 2026
Anton Ambrose is the Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs, APAC, inDrive