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Following riots in several Indonesian cities, local governments are making moves to ban ride-hailing apps such as Uber, Grab, and Go-Jek

Malioboro, Jogjakarta

In mid-2016, after a period of clashes with conventional public transportation industry players in Jakarta, the Indonesian government finally announced that ride-hailing startups are allowed to operate under several conditions.

The decision came after the government managed to ban ride-hailing services on a national level for less than 24 hours, before President Joko Widodo stepped in to interfere.

On Friday, the city administration of Jogjakarta through its transportation agency announced that it is going to introduce a new set of regulation to ban the use of ride-hailing services such as Uber, Go-Jek, and Grab.

According to a Jakarta Globe report, the regulation is currently “under process” and will be launched this week.

Jogjakarta Transportation Agency Head Gatot Saptadi cited protection for conventional public transportation services as the reason behind the ban. The government is also looking to help conventional taxi companies improve their service.

“We need to support the existing taxi system to provide online services with clear tariffs,” he said.

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The announcement came only two days after a large group of mini-bus (“angkot“) drivers in Tangerang and Bandung staged a strike to protest against motorbike taxi services provided by UberMotor, GrabBike, and Go-Jek.

Earlier in February, drivers of “bentor” (motor rickshaw) in Medan also marched to protest against ride-hailing services,

In these three cities, what started off as a peaceful protest ended up in a clash between the drivers. Despite happening in different locations on different times, the protests held the common theme of conventional public transportation drivers losing their income to ride-hailing services.

In Bandung itself, Mayor Ridwan Kamil has banned the use of ride-hailing apps since September 2015, citing the violation of public transportation requirements as the main reason.

The movement has been gathering criticism from netizens as it seems to directly clash with Bandung’s SmartCity ambition.

Transportation authorities across Asia have been continuing their effort to crack down on ride-hailing services. Thailand has been stepping up its effort in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, after declaring motorbike-based ride services illegal in mid-2016.

Uber itself has officially left Taiwan after continuous rejection from the government.

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Image Credit: johnnydevil / 123RF Stock Photo

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