Hundreds of motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers offering their services through ride-hailing applications staged a protest in front of the Transportation Ministry and State Palace on Thursday, demanding the government issue a regulation that recognizes their occupation and clarifies their rights vis-à-vis the app providers.

The ojek drivers arrived at the Transportation Ministry at around 12 p.m. and staged a brief oration before moving to the State Palace. At the State Palace, six representatives of the drivers were welcomed by a member of the presidential office (KSP), Yahya Tatang Badru Tamam, who promised to convey the drivers’ aspirations to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, the head of the Jakarta Residents Forum (FAKTA), which advocates on behalf of the drivers, said the government should issue a regulation similar to Transportation Ministry Decree No. 108/2017.

That decree, the government’s latest take on ride-hailing apps like Grab, Go-Jek and Uber, revises a previous regulation. The revision became necessary after the Supreme Court (MA) had annulled 14 articles of Ministerial Regulation No. 26/2017, but it only pertains to cars used to offer transportation services through the apps, not motorbikes.

Tigor said that, despite operating in Indonesia for years, the drivers were in a weak position against the companies operating the apps, which set rules considered unfavorable to the drivers, such as lowering fares without consultation or suspending drivers without proper verification.

One of the protesters, Ardiansyah, 45, said he was one of the first 16,000 drivers recruited by Go-Jek back in August 2015.

“Back then, the fare was Rp 4,000 [30 US cent] per kilometer, and there was no performance assessment system,” he said, adding that he could earn more than Rp 400,000 per day at the time.

However, the fare has been lowered repeatedly, down to just Rp 1,600 per kilometer today, making it hard for him to earn even half of what he used to earn.

In addition, the company’s suspension policy was often problematic, because it did not seek verification, he said.

He added that the 55 percent performance score benchmark was also unfair. Drivers must take all incoming orders if they want to keep their performance score at 100 percent. According to Go-Jek’s rules, drivers forgo the accumulated bonuses from previous trips if their performance is below 55 percent.

“We sometimes do not take long-distance orders because of the low fare. It is not very beneficial for us,” he said, adding that customers only had to pay Rp 24,000 for a 15-km trip.

“The bonuses are a lie, anyway,” claimed another driver, Rahmat Indra Permana, 30. He said he could take up to 10 trips a day, but those could be ruined by one bad rating from a customer.

For some, being an ojek driver is no longer a viable occupation. Ardiansyah said he used to drive full-time, but now he runs a shop in front of his house and only drives during rush hour.

Meanwhile, Rahmat said he was selling masks to other drivers to get additional income since June.

Rahmat explained that drivers who work during normal hours could bring home an average of Rp 100,000 a day, half of which was spent on gasoline.

However, Toba, 42, said he was still working as an ojek driver full-time. “My personal target is
Rp 200,000 per day. I can achieve that if I manage to complete up to 12 trips a day,” he said.

However, Toba said it was getting harder to achieve the target, as he was receiving fewer orders. He said when he started driving for Go-Jek back in 2015, he could complete up to eight trips before 10 a.m., while nowadays he could only complete three.

“Nowadays, there are 100 drivers available for every three customers,” he said, a point seconded by other drivers.

The abundance of drivers means drivers now spend more time waiting for the next order — and spend more time on the road waiting around, thereby contributing to congestion.

“We have many problems, and we need help from the government. Acknowledging us and clarifying our rights could be a start,” Toba said.

Grab driver Jamil said one time he had not gone home for four days in a row to meet his target.

“It is not normal anymore. Now if I take more than eight trips a day, I would need kerokan [a traditional healing therapy by scraping the skin with a coin],” he said. (dis)

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