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Taxi users rap on abortive fare cut, demand better services
Cab hoppers: Two women get into a taxi on a busy street, in this file photo
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Cab hoppers: Two women get into a taxi on a busy street, in this file photo. Despite the recent flurry of fuel price reductions, the city administration has decided not to cut taxi fares.(JP/P.J. Leo)
Taxi users in the capital have given mixed reactions to the decision made by the city’s Transportation Agency and related transportation institutions to not reduce cab fares along with bus fares following fuel price cuts, but demanded taxi operators improve their services.
“If the fares of other public transportation have been lowered after the fuel price cuts, why do cab fares remain the same?” Aryani, who takes taxi to work everyday, said.
“This is a bit unfair. When the fuel prices rose, they [taxi operators] quickly increased fares, but when the fuel prices went down, they were reluctant to cut the fares. They should have also considered their customers’ interests.”
She admitted that the decision did not really affect her because she only took a short trip from her house to her office and vice versa. For a one-way trip, she usually spent less than Rp 20,000 (US$1.6).
“But it would affect me more if I have to take a longer trips to other places,” she added.
After lengthy debates, the Transportation Agency, along with the City Transportation Council (DTKJ) and the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), decided Wednesday to maintain the current fares.
They decided that the decrease in fuel prices did not balance with their high operational costs, thus it would be difficult for them to finance their operation should they lower the fares.
Organda maintained that taxi operators would not cut the fares. Based on its calculations of operational costs, it said that the taxi’s flagfall rate should be Rp 6,900 and the per-kilometer tariff should be Rp 3,000 given the current fuel price of Rp 4,500 per liter.
Currently, taxi operators apply one of two rates — “lower tariff” or “higher tariff”. Low-rate taxis charge a flagfall rate of Rp 5,000 and Rp 2,500 per kilometer, while other taxis charge Rp 6,000 and Rp 3,000 per kilometer.
The rates were determined by Organda in June last year after the government increased the price of Premium gasoline from Rp 4,500 to Rp 6,000 per litre as global prices soared.
In January, following the fuel price cuts, the city council approved a 20 percent, or Rp 500 (4 US cents), reduction in public transportation fares for minivans and regular buses. Fannie, a resident of Pondok Indah, said that she did not mind the same taxi fares, but demanded operators prioritize services to the customers.
“The quality of their services should be in balance with the high prices. Sometimes taxi drivers do not behave politely,” she said.
“I once had a trip from my house to the Blok A area and I asked the driver to pass through a narrow street to avoid congestion in the main street. But the driver did not want to take the alternative route and asked me to get out of the taxi,” she added.
Another taxi user, Emiria, said that she thought there was no problem with the recent decision.
“I have got used to the current fares since the operators increased the fares last year. Since then, I have managed to reduce other expenses because I prefer to take taxis everyday,” the woman, who works as a communications consultant, said.
