Taxi drivers today urged the government to free them from “modern slavery” before demanding they improve their services to match that offered by ride-share firms Uber and Grab.

Otherwise, cabbies have no choice but to hold pickets and block roads in protest like what happened in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, said Persatuan Transformasi Pemandu Teksi 1Malaysia (Teksim) deputy chairperson Kamarudin Mohd Hussain.

He said this in response to Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor, who said taxi drivers have only themselves to blame for failure to attract passengers.

“If he wants cab drivers to provide service like Uber, he should first free us from this modern slavery.

“Allow us to have individual permits, abolish this monopoly (of taxi permits). Solve this core issue first by revamping the land public transport system,” he told reporters at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

He was among the five taxi drivers held by police overnight following the picket at Jalan Bukit Bintang.

They were arrested for obstructing police duty during the protest march from KLCC to Jalan Bukit Bintang.

The taxi drivers were released on police bail today and greeted by about 30 other taxi drivers.

Kamarudin said taxi drivers are desperate because their costs far exceed that of Uber and Grab drivers.

He did not know who organised yesterday’s picket, and advised all taxi drivers to avoid joining future pickets where organisers are not identified to avoid similar issues.

Yesterday, Batu MP Tian Chua, who tried to visit the taxi drivers in the lock-up, said the police denied the detainees their right to legal counsel.