According to Malaysia’s transport minister, the country gave a pass for bike hailing companies like Indonesia’s Gojek and local startup: Dego Ride to operate at a limited scale from January 2020 onwards.

Backed by Alphabet’s Google, Tencent, and JD.com, Gojek will operate on a proof-of-concept basis for 6 months in Klang Valley, the most developed region in Malaysia to measure demand for its service — expansion to other regions will commence if the demand is positive.

During this pilot test, the government will work on drafting legislations specific for bike-hailing — fundamentally similar to the regulation with e-hailing.

Malaysia’s largest e-hailing big player: Grab, is expected to face strong competition with Gojek’s market entry as it struggles to adapt to Malaysia’s new regulation with only 52% of its driver-partners passing the requirements.

“Bike hailing will be an important component in providing a comprehensive public transport system, as a mode for first- and last-mile connectivity.”, mentioned Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Malaysia's transport minister.