Ignasius Jonan (Tempo/Arnold Simanjuntak)

Cars that do not use yellow license plates are allowed to operate as public transportation, as long as they have permits, declared Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan on Thursday.

'€œUber is only a reservation platform. Whether its cars are black-, yellow- or red-plated, they must be registered as public transportation vehicles,'€ said Jonan as quoted by tempo.co.

According to Transportation Ministry decree No. 35/2003, Article 1, point 3, any vehicle that is being used commercially by the public, either directly or indirectly, is considered to be public transportation. As such, the driver of the vehicle must carry an operating permit and a copy of their business license in addition to their vehicle registration (STNK) and vehicle roadworthy certificate (KIR).

Because they lack an operating permit, Uber cars are considered an illegal form of public transportation.

Regarding ojek (motorcycle-taxi) smartphone apps such as Go-Jek and GrabBike, Jonan said that there was no regulation as yet regarding two-wheeled vehicles acting as public transportation. However, the Jakarta Transportation Agency (Dishub) is currently discussing proposals to revise Traffic Law No. 22/2009 to accommodate the growth of services such as Go-Jek by adding rules on such services '€“ which could prohibit ojek drivers from waiting on passengers in one dedicated place.

According to agency head Andri Yansyah, it would be difficult to stop the operations of conventional ojek, which offered affordable and efficient public transportation, due to the potential social turmoil and loss of income such action would cause.

"The issue of [Go-Jek and GrabBike] relates to the livelihood of people who have been ojek drivers for decades," said Andri. (rad/kes)

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