By Xavier Kong
Djoko Sasono
The Indonesian government has publicly retracted its stance on banning online ride-hailing services, with the services receiving full support from Indonesian President Joko Widodo as well.
The Indonesian president had tweeted “Don’t let the people be burdened because of regulations,” adding that “regulations need to be managed”.
Widodo has also stated that he will “immediately” summon Indonesia’s Transport Minister Ignatius Jonan for talks on the matter.
GrabTaxi had responded with an acknowledgement that they will comply with local regulations, as GrabBike and GrabCar in Indonesia are run by GrabTaxi Holding Singapore’s local licensee in Indonesia.
“The ridesharing industry is still in its infancy and we will continue to work with the government and all industry stakeholders to expand the regulatory framework. We believe that it’s our shared objective to make the Indonesian public transportation more efficient, and to enable all Indonesians to commute safely,” said GrabTaxi in an issued statement.
“We believe that the Ministry of Transport’s operating guidelines will consider the interests of drivers and passengers in Indonesia, and will completely support them,” added GrabTaxi, noting that GrabCar and GrabBike already take proactive measures to improve safety for drivers and passengers, in addition to any regulatory requirements.
“For example 100% of our GrabBike drivers have motorcycle licences and we provide additional personal accident insurance to our GrabCar and GrabBike drivers and passengers. We also provide driver welfare programmes that improve our drivers’ livelihoods and help with their financial futures,” stated GrabTaxi.
Uber stuck to their statement from Dec 8, when Uber was allowed to legally operate in Jakarta.
“It is very encouraging that the ridesharing industry in Jakarta has finally received a green light from Governor Ahok to operate an environment with regulatory certainty and conducive to success,” Mike Brown, Uber’s Asia-Pacific regional general manager said in the statement.
“As a company we have made some mistakes in the past and apologise for that. But we are also quick to learn and we fully understand the requirements laid out by the Governor and will cooperate with his office BKPM and Dishub to ensure Uber complies with all requirements,” he added.
This follows the official ban that had been laid down by the Indonesian Transport Ministry on all online ride-hailing services, due to the services not meeting the country’s official definition of public transport, with the original report by Dealstreet Asia.
The director-general of Indonesia’s Land Transportation Ministry, Djoko Sasono, had said the operations of Uber, Go-Jek, Go-Box, GoFood, GoMart, GrabTaxi, GrabBike, GrabCar, Blu Jek and LadyJek did not comply with the provisions of the law, under Government Regulation No. 74 of 2014 on road transportation.
“Whatever the name, type of operation, Go-Jek, Go-Box, GrabTaxi, GrabBike, GrabCar, BlueJek, Lady-Jek is forbidden,” he said, noting that the ban was in Notice letter No. UM.3012 /1/21/Phb/2015, signed by Jonan, on Nov 9, 2015.
The letter was also addressed to the Police Traffic Corps, as well as the police chief and governors of Indonesia.
“This assertion has been made only because their operation of vehicles for public passenger transport is not in accordance with Law 22/2009 on Road Traffic and Transport and its derivative legislation. This is in violation of the law, so the operation is prohibited,” said Sasono.
Sasono also noted that the ease of booking, as well as the cheaper rates during the initial promotion period – barely 35% of the prices charged by regular public transportation – could cause friction.
This governmental response follows the rising use of online ride-hailing services, with the trend beginning in 2011 in major cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, and Bali, with an estimated 20,000 drivers under the various banners, which not only provides transportation, but also food and package deliveries.
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