Less than 48 hours before the implementation of a regulation that stipulates a fleet quota and price floor for ride-hailing services, the government gave its public reassurance on Thursday that the new rule was intended to accommodate the interests of all stakeholders in the industry, including price-concious customers.

In a proposed revision to Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 32/2016 on taxi businesses, set to become effective on April 1, the government seeks to replace the current pricing mechanism employed by ride-hailing application providers with minimum and maximum fares determined by regional administrations.

The government also seeks to put a limit on the number of drivers partnering with the app companies.

The measures will be introduced in response to mounting protests from operators and drivers of formal public transportation, such as taxis and public minivans, who blame popular ride-hailing apps, such as Go-Jek, Grab and Uber, for creating unfair price mechanisms as they can offer cheaper services to customers through subsidized pricing.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the new regulation represented the government’s efforts to accommodate the interests of both parties.

“We keep mentioning fairness. […] There is no such thing as making one party lose against the other,” he said on Thursday.

Under the new regulation, the new fare will be measured by each kilometer of trip distance, like conventional taxi services. Even though the exact fare rate will later be decided by each regional administration head, the government expects similar standards from one province to another.

Transportation Ministry director general for land transportation Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said that the government expected the regional administration to set the fares for ride hailing services at similar rates to taxis.

“The fare will still be cheaper [than conventional taxis]. The [difference] will range between 10 percent to 20 percent,” he said.

The Transportation Ministry issued a decree last May that served as a legal basis for the operation of ride-hailing apps amid massive protests from conventional taxi drivers whose incomes have dwindled because of tighter competition.

However, the ministry later postponed the implementation of the regulation twice until April due to mounting complaints, including those related to the compulsory roadworthiness tests and vehicle licensing.

The ministry has also repeatedly showed concern for the taxi business which has been hit hard by ride-hailing apps.

The country’s largest taxi operator, PT Blue Bird, for example, has to swallow a 12.9 percent drop in its revenue to Rp 4.7 trillion in 2016 compared to the 2015 figure. Its profit also dropped by 38.4 percent to Rp 510.2 billion.

The company recently stated that the drop was due to tightening competition with the ride-hailing apps.

Blue Bird has turned to major ride-hailing app Go-Jek for its channel expansion.

In the new cooperation, Go-Jek will provide a Blue Bird booking service through the app, which is called Go-Blue Bird.

Previously, both companies have cooperated in the Go-Jek car charter service, Go-Car, where the app’s consumers can also enjoy the Blue Bird fleet as part of the service.

“Go-Jek has their own customer base. For Blue Bird, this is additional multichannel access for the consumers,” Blue Bird director Adirnato Djokosoetono said.

In the first phase, the service will be available in Jakarta; Bandung, West Java; Semarang, Central Java; Surabaya, East Java; and Medan, North Sumatra.

Go-Jek CEO and founder Nadiem Makarim lauded the cooperation, adding that so far, there has been a significant surge in Go-Car users since the cooperation with Blue Bird.

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