A lot of things in Jakarta move very slowly (thus the high demand for app-based transport services from companies like Go-Jek and Grab), but two things that can sometimes get things moving quickly are protests and the president.
After around a thousand motorcycle taxi drivers for ride-sharing apps (colloquially known in Indonesia as “online ojeks”) protested in front of the Presidential Palace on Tuesday to demand the government help them negotiate higher pay, President Jokowi personally met with representatives from the driver’s side to hear what they had to say. When he learned that they were only making around IDR1,600 (US$0.12) per kilometer, he offered to help mediate discussion with Go-Jek and Grab to negotiate a new pay standard.
The very next day (aka yesterday), Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko met with representatives of the two transport tech giants alongside Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rudiantara.
According to Moeldoko, Go-Jek and Grab both agreed to raise their per-kilometer pay rate for drivers. He said the government had proposed a reasonable increase of IDR2,000 (US$0.15) per kilometer (less than the IDR4,000 per kilometer asked for by drivers at Tuesday’s demo) but he said the specific amount is still to be determined by the companies.
“We can not press because they also have their own calculations on how much they can per kilometer,” Moeldoko said as quoted by Tempo yesterday.
The results of those calculations should be known soon as the presidential chief of staff said that Go-Jek and Grab would announce the new rates on Monday, April 2.
Complaints about driver pay and treatment have been consistent issues for the two transportation tech companies, which brand themselves as middlemen between customers and drivers (who the companies refer to as “partners” or “micro-entrepreneurs” that can decide to make however much money they want, whenever they want). However, a study conducted last year found that the ride-sharing companies use questionable approaches to maximizing drivers’ labor output, particularly through unfair incentive policies, while infringing upon their rights as workers and shifting various costs onto them.
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