Desty Luthfiani, Jakarta – A group of online taxi drivers in the Greater Jakarta area calling themselves the Revolusi Driver Online demanded an increase in basic fares. The current basic fare for the transportation service at the mobile applications starts from Rp3,000 per kilometer.

The drivers demanded the fare to be raised to Rp5,491 per kilometer.

"[The demand] is based on the rising cost of vehicle operation. Prices of cars, their spare parts, and fuel have increased," one of the group coordinators Chaerudin Reffy told Tempo on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.

On Wednesday afternoon, Chaerudin brought these demands to the Transportation Ministry through a mass demonstration which he claimed participated by a thousand people. The protest was held in the Arjuna Wijaya Horse Statue area, Central Jakarta.

According to him, the demand for tariff adjustments has reached the ministry. "If there is no response and results within 7 x 24 hours, we will come in larger numbers," he pledged.

Chaerudin added that Wednesday's demonstration only involved online taxi drivers. "Online motorcycle taxi drivers haven't arrived yet."

He also said the demand was filed to the Transportation Ministry as the regulator, hoping that the government would solve the problem of basic online taxi rates, including price competition for each application. "And impose sanctions if any of the applications violate it," Chaerudin said.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1800420/online-taxi-drivers-demand-higher-base-fares-in-app