Amid continued backlash over the issue, Loke said it was “just a proposal” made by Tony Pua, the finance minister’s political secretary.

“As far as the transport ministry is concerned, we have no plans to scrap the feeder bus service right now,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

“We want to integrate with other bus services and we hope we can roll out the monthly pass soon, then all these services will be part and parcel of the public transportation system in the Klang Valley.”

He was commenting on reports in which Pua said Putrajaya was considering pursuing public-private partnerships in areas such as public transport.

“Why would you provide feeder buses if you can work with Grab? They can actually arrive and give door-to-door delivery from the MRT to commuters’ homes at a reasonable price, and at a cost that will be cheaper than us supplying feeder buses,” he was quoted as saying.

Since news of the government’s plan was first reported, taxi drivers, a consumer group and disability group have criticised the idea, raising concerns over the affordability, logistics of the plan, among others

Big Blue Taxi company founder Shamsubahrin Ismail is also organising a demonstration today against the idea.

Loke said the taxi drivers could protest if they wanted to, adding that the government respected their freedom and right to voice their opinions as long as it was a peaceful protest.

“Of course they want us to ban Grab but the government has made the decision to allow e-hailing services to operate, and we want to regulate these services.”

Loke said his political secretary was holding discussions with taxi drivers and associations on ways to improve the system.

“We have very good relationships with some other associations,” he added. “In fact, we are encouraging them to adopt e-hailing.

“One particular association is developing an app for airport taxis which I will launch soon.”