He said the issue of Loke resigning did not arise as all decisions made were done collectively, not unilaterally.
“We have had numerous meetings with taxi associations. Not just the minister, but also ministry officials as well as the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad),” he told FMT after attending a forum here yesterday.
His remarks follow a recent protest by taxi drivers who had urged Loke to step down for allegedly failing to resolve the situation. They insisted however that their protest did not mean they were going against the government.
Kamarudin said Putrajaya had already announced clear policies to ensure that the taxi and e-hailing industries are given equal treatment, with the same conditions imposed on both.
This was to ensure that no one held the advantage over the other in terms of driving licences, car terms or insurance terms, which would all be standardised, he added.
“We have already reduced the burden for taxi drivers, in that taxis which are more than three years old are inspected once, annually, instead of once every six months.
“Apad also has plans to help taxi drivers start using apps so that they too can provide e-hailing services. These are the efforts we are making to ensure a level playing field so that the livelihood of cabbies is not affected.
“We understand their situation and we will continue to help them. We understand their hardships and are trying to resolve that,” he said.
The Bandar Tun Razak MP also noted the need to continue engaging with those in the taxi industry to ensure that it is more carefully organised.
Although the ministry might not be able to achieve everything, he said, it would do its best to ensure equality.
“We would also like to urge taxi drivers to pay more attention to their level of service to the public.
“They should look at ways to improve their quality of service so that they can match their e-hailing counterparts,” he said.