All fraudulent: An officer from the transportation agency inspects a fleet of taxis that do not have a license to operat in Bali. : JP/Stanny Angga
Jakarta is as notorious for its sporadic taxi situation as it is for severe traffic congestion.
With taxis turning up to calls an hour late, Rp 80,000 joyrides for expats and tourists, 40-minute intervals with not a taxi in sight, and indeed the more sinister rumors of night-club abductions, midnight lootings of unsuspecting passengers, and fake taxis using faintly dodgy, but not too unbelievable, signs and meters, it’s a wonder how anyone without a car can actually get from A to B.
Blue Bird, Indonesia’s largest and generally most trusted/tolerated taxi operator, hopes to provide the answer, but is not without its own problems.
Not two weeks ago, Blue Bird-managed taxi drivers in Bali were hitting the headlines for allegedly operating without a license, while many customers complain of unknowledgeable drivers, unreachable call centers, and booked cars that simply don’t turn up.
One member of The Jakarta Post staff insists that no taxi will ever take a call within one mile of her house, located only slightly off the beaten track, unless she says she is going to the airport.
The inevitable “ooh, err, sorry, I meant Kemang” comments aside, it does not take much from a taxi operator to realize the system is flawed.
The straw that broke the camel’s back, as it were, occurred when the humble author of this article was himself victim of a fraudulent Blue Bird cab; the driver of which was effectively arrested in front of him at the first police barricade, not 5 minutes from EX Plaza, leaving the faintly bewildered passenger with no explanation, just the presence of mind to exit immediately in favor of another passing taxi, who in turn, on receipt of the desired address, pulled a U-turn in the opposite direction.
In wanting to relay this information to anyone who would listen, Noni Prawiro, the Blue Bird vice-president for business development, and granddaughter of Blue Bird’s founder, the late Mrs. Mutiara Djokosoetono, was approached.
“Fraudulent taxis are a big problem for us,” she said, “especially the ones who use Blue Bird’s identity.
From A to B: A Blue Bird taxi rides down a leafy street in Cikini, Jakarta. There are roughly 12,000 Blue Bird taxis in Jakarta. JP/Ricky Yudhistira
We put registered trademarks on our logos, but we cannot do this for the actual color of our cars. If we know of anyone using our identity, then we report it. We have already sued two companies for this.”
“The safest way of getting a taxi is by calling…[but] another way is to use Blue Bird outlets at 5-star hotels in Jakarta. Our employees are there to write down every taxi number.”
When asked about how to handle the often unavoidable situation of flagging a cab from the street, she commented, “all Blue Bird Group taxis have a Blue Bird sunscreen, the fake ones don’t. The sunscreen is the best differentiator of fraudulent taxis” — a handy tip for travelers.
“We also have special payment options, like a credit voucher system …Non-Blue Bird taxis would not want to take you if you were paying with that.”
Certainly, then, Blue Bird are aware of the situation, and are trying hard to prevent it. Though why should we trust Blue Bird drivers, who could use their meter system to take any unsuspecting tourist on a joyride, above other companies’?
“The measures we take start from recruitment itself. Our recruitment is completely different from other taxi companies’. Before we employ any Blue Bird driver, we check their backgrounds ourselves. Each candidate has to be recommended by close family who has their own certificate of land…so if there is an issue, we know where they can be found,” she said. “We cannot rely on just national identity cards, we go further than that.”
Now for the facts: There are roughly 12,000 Blue Bird taxis in Jakarta, and 800 Silver Birds (executive-level vehicles). The drivers work shifts from 4 a.m. until 12 midnight, or from 2 p.m. until midday (the following day).
The Blue Bird call center receives around 18/19,000 calls every day, and the drivers work on a commission-based system, the minimum commission being 10 percent of their daily intake.
Indeed, Prawiro was keen to point out that Blue Bird’s commission-based system was one of its key strengths, despite it taking “much, much more administrative work”.
Other companies, she said, were rental-based where the driver is under pressure to return a nominal sum to the taxi company each day — thus encouraging the use of ruthless tactics in acquiring customers. By contrast, it is possible to see that Blue Bird operates under a genuine and honest set
of values.
“The company [started] in our house,” she recounted, “it was very, very close. The drivers would eat with us every night…Nowadays, with 24,000 drivers across Indonesia, it’s a bit difficult for us to sit all around one table! But we still have an open house day once a year …where myself and my mother serve the drivers. It’s a time for everyone to eat together. The family values are still there.”
In theory, at least, Blue Bird is impressive, and has been commended for this — this year it was the proud recipient of the 2010 IMAC (Indonesia’s Most Admired Company) award. But, in practice, there’s a different story.
Many consider Express taxis to be more clued-up to street names and addresses, with one customer commenting that Blue Bird’s “biggest problem is with the drivers’ road knowledge.
Yesterday, what should have been a 5-minute journey took one full hour of going up and down the same street to find the address.”
While another customer’s advice was that “everything hinges on the first two minutes of the
journey. If you know where you’re going, and can tell them in Indonesian, you stand a far better chance of being taken there quickly and safely.”
Despite the incidents, one might say that the Blue Bird Group is doing its best. On the basis of Noni Prawiro’s commentary, the top management appears to know what its doing. But maybe the problem lies in this filtering down to the driver on the street.
When Blue Bird can provide drivers that can communicate with their passengers effectively, turn up on time, and not have to telephone to their colleagues for directions, it will be on the road to success with its customers.
Until then, it looks like we’ll have to stay condemned to silence in the back seat, with fingers crossed that the driver will look upon us with sympathy and we’ll reach Cipete without incident.
Blue Bird can provide drivers that can communicate with their passengers effectively, turn up on time ...
