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Grab, Go-Jek could face punishment if change in status rejected
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A Jakartan uses a smartphone to access a ride-hailing application as online motorcycle taxi drivers park on the roadside near Palmerah Station in Jakarta. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
T
he Transportation Ministry will punish ride-hailing apps companies Grab and Go-Jek if they refuse to register as transportation companies, ministry transportation and multi-mode director Cucu Mulyana said in Jakarta on Thursday.
He said the legal basis to change their status was being prepared and would be ready within two months.
The punishment could be in the form of a fine or the freezing or revocation of their permits. “We have a mandate from the prevailing law,” Cucu said.
He called on the companies to immediately register with the ministry for the status change, adding that the companies would be given time to adjust to their new status.
Previously, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi declared April 13 the deadline for the two companies to register with the ministry as transportation companies. By Thursday, neither company had done so.
“It would be better to ask to the minister [about the deadline],” Grab Indonesia spokeswoman Dewi Nuraini said in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by kontan.co.id.
Cucu said the companies would be punished only after the issuance of the revised transportation minister regulation.
Meanwhile, information and communication technology analyst Heru Sutadi said Go-Jek and Grab probably preferred to maintain their current status as app-based ride-hailing companies instead of transportation operators because they did not own the vehicles, the main asset of a transportation company. (bbn)
