Dego Ride has urged the government to prioritise local players after giving green light to the introduction of motorcycle ridesharing in Malaysia.

“My wish is that Dego Ride can be provided with a certain niche in the ride-hailing service market.

"You can still allow competitors, but we can have a niche market where we can specialise in,” said Nabil Feisel Bamadhaj, who founded the country's first motorcycle ridesharing, Dego Ride.

Nabil said he welcomed the government’s decision to allow such services to operate in the country.

“It is not only a green light for Gojek but it also to allows Dego Ride to re-start our services," he said, adding that he expects a good response from the public for motorcycle ride-hailing services.

On Aug 21, the cabinet has agreed in principle to the motorcycle ride-sharing proposal from Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who wanted to create more job opportunities for youths.

This came after the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad met Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim on Tuesday night together with Syed Saddiq and Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

The Transport Ministry has been given one month to submit a report on the implementation and mechanism for these services.

In 2017, the previous BN administration banned Dego Ride for safety reasons.

In July 2018, Loke said the government was not ready to allow motorcycle ride-sharing in Malaysia.