Self-employed taxi drivers including those with Grab and Uber services will be covered under the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) beginning June 1. According this report from theSunDaily, the drivers will make a contribution rate of 1.25% of their insured monthly income. This is believed will benefit over 73,000 self-employed taxi drivers and roughly 35,000 active Uber and Grab drivers.

Socso (Social Security Organisation)  CEO Datuk Dr. Mohammed Azman Aziz was quoted saying that all self-employed drivers must register with Socso under the EIS scheme.

"The annual contribution payment ranges from RM157.20 (RM13.10 a month) to RM592.80 (RM49.40 a month)," he said.

He added that the extension to include such taxi drivers including those with Grab and Uber was agreed by the Human Resource Minister.

"Self-employed taxi drivers, who are exposed to accidents or occupational diseases while at work, will be covered under the EIS and their dependents will have social security protection in the event of death," he added.

TheSunDaily also quoted Mohammed Azman stating that coverage includes medical, temporary or permanent disablement, funeral and dependant’s benefits (pensions).

The EIS will come into place with the enactment of a new law – the Self Employment Social Security Bill 2017. It will be tabled by Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem during the next Dewan Rakyat meeting scheduled from March 6 to April 6.

Once the bill is passed, affected drivers will have two months to register.

The financial allocation for this comes under Budget 2017 and is worth RM60 million. It was set-up to implement the scheme for individual taxi drivers with a monthly income of RM3,000.

This assistance is in accordance with the principles of universal social justice set by the United Nations.