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Ministry 's ban of app-based transportation comes too late: YLKI
Outrage-Jek: Scores of Go-Jek drivers from the Makassar Go-Jek Drivers Union rally in protest in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Dec
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span class="caption">Outrage-Jek: Scores of Go-Jek drivers from the Makassar Go-Jek Drivers Union rally in protest in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Dec. 3. They were protesting a policy issued by the company PT Go-Jek that was considered a disadvantage to the drivers. (Antara/Abriawan Abhe)
The Transportation Ministry's move to ban application-based transportation might make sense in law, but it comes too late amid the rapid growth of the startup businesses in Indonesia, a chairman of a consumer group said on Friday.
Tulus Abadi, the chairman of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI), said that the basic reason behind the prohibition was correct because motorcyles did not meet the technical specifications for transporting people and they lacked safety standards.
Still, he was worried that that regulation would not have a strong impact.
"The ban is much too late because ojek [motorcycle taxis] have grown rapidly, like mushrooms in the rainy season," he said in a press statement.
The ministry announced that it had prohibited all ride-hailing applications like Go-Jek, GrabBike, Uber, Blue-Jek and Lady-Jek, claiming that they did not meet safety requirements and violated the law on public transportation.
Tulus was certain that even though the operations were banned, legal enforcement and the sanctions imposed against them would be weak.
He gave as an example the traditional ojek that were backed up by the police, the local transportation offices and also the military.
The growth in the numbers of ojek in big cities was also caused by the government's failure to provide reliable and affordable public transportation, he said. The business had grown significantly, especially in Jakarta with its serious traffic congestion issues.
"The Transportation Ministry could not ban ojek if they cannot provide improved access to public transportation. We also questioned the current public buses' safety following the fatal crashes that involved Metromini," he said.
The YLKI urged the goverment to provide solutions to the issue, as it is the government's responsibility to provide public transportation.
The ride-hailing applications had seen growing popularity among citizens in Indonesia's big cities because of how easy they made ordering transportation and the affordable prices. (rin)(+)
