Govt to redirect express bus ticket sales from OTAs to licensed terminals
KUALA LUMPUR: Express bus ticket sales will be channelled through online portals operated by licensed bus terminals from Nov 1, with the government aiming to reduce reliance on online travel agents (OTAs), many of which are based overseas, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said.
He said the move was intended to ensure that commissions from online ticket sales benefited bus terminals rather than OTAs, which earn commissions from transactions despite not providing terminal services.
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“Most of these OTAs are based overseas. Currently, most bus tickets are not purchased through the bus companies’ own portals, but through various OTA platforms,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Loke said some OTAs did not have a corporate presence in Malaysia, making it difficult for authorities and bus operators to seek redress when problems arose, including cases where payments were not remitted to bus companies.
He said the move was also intended to help terminals recover their operating costs, as the government no longer subsidised terminal operations, including those at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS).
“Terminals provide the infrastructure and facilities for passengers to safely board and alight from buses.
“All these expenses are borne by the terminals, including utilities and other costs,” he said.
Loke said bus operators would not necessarily suffer losses under the new system, as they could integrate their existing websites with ticketing platforms operated by terminals.
“If they already have their own websites and so on, they can integrate them with the terminal’s system. There is no problem,” he said.
He said the government also wanted terminal operators to charge lower fees and commissions than OTAs, allowing bus companies to retain a larger share of their ticket sales revenue.
Loke said the arrangement would be a business-to-business commercial matter between terminal operators and bus companies, while the government would continue to monitor its implementation.
He stressed that ticket sales would not be limited to physical counters, as terminals could operate their own online portals to allow passengers to purchase tickets digitally.
Loke said the new system would also address cases in which tickets were sold through OTAs even though the corresponding bus services did not operate, leaving terminals to bear the costs of managing affected passengers.
“Sometimes tickets are sold but the bus does not operate.
“When this happens, the terminal has to bear the costs, including providing facilities and staff to manage the affected passengers,” he said.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh) on whether the new ticketing system would improve online booking facilities and QR-code boarding while ensuring bus operators were not disadvantaged by additional costs.