Kamarudin Mohd Hussain, who heads the Gabungan Teksi SeMalaysia, said the gathering will be held on June 19. He expects taxi drivers from all over Malaysia to take part.

He said: “The minister has refused to meet and negotiate with us even though we had sent him eight letters asking for a meeting. He even branded us as ‘traitors’.

“We want to send another memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, seeking his intervention.”

The group had previously lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against Loke for alleged abuse of powers.

They claimed the minister was seen to be amending rules and regulations for the benefit of e-hailing drivers.

Kamarudin said they had submitted a memorandum asking Mahathir to intervene in their dispute with Loke but there had been no response.

He added he wanted to ensure taxi drivers in the country get the same treatmemt as e-hailing drivers and claimed that Loke had not brought any changes to ease taxi woes.

Kamarudin said the transport ministry now allowed e-hailing drivers to apply for the public service vehicle licences online.

He added such action was seen as giving special treatment to e-haling companies like Grab.