The Transport Ministry has announced plans to support approximately 50,000 drivers of taxis, rental cars, and school buses in enrolling in the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) self-employment social security scheme.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook unveiled the initiative, which will cover 35,000 taxi and rental car drivers, along with 15,000 school bus drivers.
Funding for this endeavor will be sourced from proceeds generated by the sale of special ‘GOLD’ vehicle registration plates, among other resources, as no specific budget allocation has been earmarked.
With Putrajaya increasing its contributions to the social security scheme for self-employed individuals from 80% to 90% in the 2024 budget, the Transport Ministry has pledged to cover the remaining 10% for these drivers, amounting to RM23.30 each.
Additionally, some companies in the e-hailing and p-hailing sectors have agreed to assist gig workers in contributing the remaining 10%.
Under this scheme, beneficiaries are entitled to a pension of RM1,395 per month for life in the event of the covered individual’s death due to a work-related incident.
Minister Loke emphasised the importance of automatic enrollment for comprehensive coverage of taxi, rental car, and school bus drivers in the scheme.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim expressed hope that this initiative would inspire other ministries and government agencies to extend similar support to self-employed workers.
Socso aims to increase the number of self-employed contributors to the scheme, targeting at least 500,000 enrollees. As of March 3, only 433,881 active contributors were recorded, representing 14.56% of Malaysia’s 2.98 million self-employed workers.
