Back in March, a massive and sometimes violent protest by taxi and other public transportation drivers against the rise of ride-hailing app services such as Uber and GrabCar took place throughout Jakarta. Today, it’s the drivers of the so called “online taxis” that are set to protest, demonstrating against new regulations that they say are unfairly hurting their industry. And organizers say they are ready to bring 1,000 drivers to the street to have their voices heard.
After last March’s protest and numerous other legal clashes over the legality of ride-hailing apps, the government eventually decided to create new regulations that would allow services like Uber, GrabCar and GoCar to operate normally in Indonesia. These new regulations are set to go into force at the beginning of October.
However, the protesters say these new regulations are proving too difficult to comply with, putting unjust burdens and costs on the company’s partner drivers.
“Some of the points in [the new regulations], hurt online taxi drivers. One of them is the provision that we all obtain public transport SIM A type driver’s licenses,” said Andryawal Simanjuntak, one of the protest’s coordinators, when contacted by Kompas on Sunday.
Andryawal pointed out that the cost of obtaining the special driver’s license cost each applicant around Rp 1 million to Rp 1.5 million. The driving simulation test applicants must pass is also notoriously difficult.
Another sticking point in the new regulation is the vehicle roadworthiness tests (KIR) that all cars registered with ride hailing companies are required to take. Andryawal said that taking the test registers the car as a public transport vehicle, which would force drivers to forfeit their private auto insurance, opening them up to all sorts of risks.
The regulations also require that each driver’s car be licensed to a public transport company collective, which is impossible to do for cars which are not still being paid for in installments.
An an example of how difficult the new regulations are to meet, the Indonesian Car Rental Businessmen Association (PPRI), a cooperative working with GrabCar, says only 966 cars out of a total 5,000 have passed the KIR test so far, and only 50 of their drivers have attained the type A SIM license. Other cooperatives are reporting similar numbers.
The protesters argue that the government should revoke the new regulations as the ride hailing services offer an opportunity to reduce the country’s unemployment rate by providing vital jobs.
“The rule are detrimental to us. This policy only empowers large employers and is a form of monopoly,” Andryawal said.
Today’s protest are set to start at 11am today and will take place in front of the the State Palace, the Ministry of Transportation and the House of Representatives.
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