The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has received the green light from the Cabinet to begin regulating the two most popular ride-hailing apps in Malaysia: Grab and Uber.

In a report by The Sun Daily, SPAD chief Executive office Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah presented 11 initiative to overhaul the taxi industry, which included plans to improve the Teksi1Malaysia (TEKSI1M) model, streamline fleets of budget cabs, and expand transport services by legalising Uber and Grab. The legalisation process will involve introducing amendments to relevant laws when Parliament convenes in November.

According to reports, there are currently 77,000 licensed taxis in Malaysia, and it is hoped that with these new initiatives, there will be approximately 150,000 new individual permit holders consisting of Uber, Grab, and taxi drivers – all co-existing to serve the market.

It’s unclear how taxi drivers will respond to this news just yet. It’s no secret that many taxi drivers are vehemently opposed to the competition presented by Uber and Grab. In May, taxi drivers in KL staged a protest against the ride-hailing apps, causing standstill traffic. The same thing happened again in June, this time by taxi drivers in Penang. There have also been several reports of taxi drivers assaulting Uber and Grab drivers around the city, damaging their vehicles and hurling verbal abuse.

Here’s to hoping that these new initiative, which will be released to the public sometime next week, will dramatically improve the taxi industry here, creating safe and healthy competition between all drivers and offering passengers the best rates.