Operators want contracts extended, fear open competition

Four consortiums of operators of seven Transjakarta bus rapid transit routes have demanded the Jakarta administration to automatically extend their contracts after the expiration dates, without them having to enter new bids for the routes.

The consortiums have threatened to file a lawsuit against the city administration and to shut down the Transjakarta service.

Otto Hasibuan, lawyer for the consortiums, said on Wednesday his clients had sent two letters to the Jakarta administration over the matter. “The last letter was sent on Tuesday. We expect answers from the administration within a week or we will go to court,” Otto said.

The consortiums, namely PT Trans Batavia, PT Jakarta Trans Metropolitan, PT Jakarta Mega Trans and PT Trans Mayapada Busway, currently operate Transjakarta Corridors 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9.

The consortiums were established by PT Mayasari Bakti, PT Steady Safe, state bus company PPD and PT Metromini, with various proportions of shares in each consortium. All of the companies are long-time bus operators in the city.

The city has revoked operational permits of buses whose routes were more than 50 percent similar to those of Transjakarta.

All seven-year contracts to operate Transjakarta routes are won through a tender process. The contracts for Corridors 2, Pulo Gadung-Harmoni, and 3, Pulo Gadung-Kalideres, will expire in January 2013.

Otto said that the consortiums had been diligent in managing the Transjakarta routes, fulfilling all of their contracts. “In an open tender process, our clients will face other bidders and there are chances they will lose and so will not be able to run a significant portion of their business,” the lawyer said.

The latest Transjakarta route tender process, for the 20.5-kilometer long Corridor 11 Kampung Melayu-Pulo Gebang, was won by state-run bus company Damri.

Separately on Tuesday, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said that the threat by the consortiums was not the first one the city had received.

“Our Legal Bureau and the Transjakarta management body (BLU) will deal with [the threat]. However, I believe that the administration has done everything according to regulations and public needs,” Fauzi said.

City Transportation Agency chief Udar Pristono said that contract extension would be violating existing laws and regulations. “The law clearly says that state goods and services procurement should be made by tender,” Udar said.

He was referring to the 2009 Road Traffic and Transportation Law and Presidential Decree No. 54/2010 on Public Goods and Services Procurement.

“The administration is only following regulations, which we believe is the right way.”