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Ten representatives of Uber, GrabCar, and Go-Car are being brought to mediate with the Merdeka Palace

Hundreds of ride-hailing startups driver-partners gather in various locations in Jakarta today to march against government regulation on ride-hailing startups.

Naming themselves the Online Drivers Communication Forum, the drivers came from Greater Jakarta Area, representing car-hailing services from mainly three companies: Uber, Grab’s GrabCar, and Go-Jek’s Go-Car.

The drivers call for the revision of Ministry of Transportation Regulation No. 32 year 2016 that obliges ride-hailing startups to perform road worthiness test and have vehicles being listed as a property of the company, including the latest proposal that requires startups to hand over their drivers’ data to the government.

According to CNN Indonesia, by afternoon there are already 150 vehicles and 200 drivers gathering in Parkir Timur Senayan, South Jakarta. Parkir Timur Senayan has been chosen as a meeting point for the driver-partners before they march to House of Representatives and Ministry of Transportation.

The report stated 10 drivers have been brought by the authority to meet with government’s representative at Merdeka Palace, the official residence of Indonesia President.

“There are 10 representatives from each online-based taxi companies heading to the Palace to mediate [with the government], facilitated by buses provided by the Police,” said Roma Hutajulu, deputy head of Central Jakarta police force.

Also Read: Now that Ignasius Jonan is out, what does the future hold for Indonesian ride-hailing startups?

A sample of Twitter update calling for drivers to protest

Since early August, the hashtag #savedriveronline has been going around in Twitter, complemented with the call to “go offline” and join the march by people believed to be car-hailing driver-partners.

However, e27 was able to confirm that despite the call for strike, many drivers remain available for service today.

Though this is not the first time the driver-partners made attempt to protest the regulation, only today that they finally get to Merdeka Palace for mediation.

In early August, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Semadi announced that the ministry will summon the three leading ride-hailing startups in Indonesia –Uber, Grab, and Go-Jek– to confirm “the companies’ commitment to adhere to government regulation.”

There has been no update on whether the meeting has been realised or not.

The post Ride-hailing drivers fight back, march to protest Transportation Ministry regulation appeared first on e27.

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