A recent survey conducted by The Expat magazine found out that Malaysian taxis are among the worst, as compared to services in other 22 countries.

In the survey, over 200 respondents, which are made of of foreigners coming from more than 30 countries worldwide, were given an opportunity to review and assess the service provided by the local taxis. Among of the criteria measured are quality of taxi, ease of availability, driver’s courtesy level and driver job knowledge. Each of the criteria was assessed on a 10-point scale.

Majority of the respondents gave bad impression to the service offered by the country. Malaysia taxi scored a poor average point of 4.58 while the neighboring country’s average of 8.44 is sure to leave many Malaysians embarrassed.

The most frequent complaints by the respondents were the overcharging practice and refusal to take passengers who were not agreeable to a flat fee. Some of them went to the extend of labeling the Malaysian taxi service as ‘a national disgrace’, ‘source of national shame’ and ‘a threat to tourists’.

The Expat is a local monthly magazine which has a circulation of around 6,000 copies on every publication.