Cabbies struggle to stay behind the wheel
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The recent taxi fare hike is not only hitting passengers in the pocket, it is also eating into the daily earnings of taxi drivers.
Anas from the Royal Taxi group said the fare increase had meant passengers were staying away, and he now earned around Rp 25,000 (US$2.78) a day, or about half what he used to bring home before the fare increase.
He and other drivers argued that the new fares, which came one month after the central government increased the fuel prices by 29 percent, were not working because of customer resistance.
Another taxi driver from the Express group, who chose not to be named, said: "I must admit that the fare needed to increase because I have to pay more for gasoline."
He said he now had to pay around Rp 80,000 per day for fuel, compared to Rp 55,000 before the hike.
Most taxi drivers also had to pay daily rental fees that could amount to Rp 400,000 for the latest model vehicles and many had already quit the job because it was uneconomic, he said.
"I have survived because I still have some loyal customers who call me when they need a taxi. However, many of my friends have stopped driving for a while as they cannot make more than the daily quota they must pay to the company," said Mapa Paul, 42, of Dian Group Taxi, who has been a cab driver for 15 years.
Since Monday, the Jakarta Administration allowed taxi operators to set new fares in accordance with the quality of their services, as long as they were below an average 36 percent increase ceiling.
Flag-falls in most cabs went up 33 percent to Rp 4,000 from Rp 3,000, while the per-kilometer charge is being increased from Rp 1,300 to Rp 1,800. The waiting charge, meanwhile, has been raised 38.5 percent, from Rp 13,000 to Rp 18,000 per hour.
Kosti Taxi, which generally used older cars, has kept the old meter charges.
However, according to Sokhibi, who has worked for the company for 12 years, the fare increase had affected him as well.
"I get fewer passengers too, but I'm lucky because the (car) rental fee is a mere Rp 90,000. Moreover, since Kosti cars use natural gas, I have not been hit by the fuel price hike that hard," he said.
A Blue Bird taxi driver, Nuh, said the tough competition among some 40 taxi companies in Jakarta did not help the situation.
"If there were not so many older taxis, maybe it would be easier for us."
An Express taxi driver said that one possible solution would be to ensure that all taxis increased their fares, to make the system fair.
"I don't like it when other taxis place the 'old meter' stickers on their cars. It makes people compare the prices and not the better service we provide with our newer cars," he said.
Meanwhile, Land Transportation Organization (Organda) chairman Herry Rotty said Organda had suggested the new minimum fare for taxis due to requests from taxi companies that had wanted to pay off the investment they made in cars less than five-years old.
Herry said the original proposal was Rp 5,700 at flag fall and Rp 2,200 per kilometer to meet demand.
"That is the maximum fare that the companies can charge. If some companies can get by using the old fares, then they are not forced to increase it."
Most taxi drivers predicted that the consumer resistance to the fare increase would subside within two months.
"People still need taxis and they will start flagging us down again sooner or later, it's just a matter of them adjusting," said Ukas, a Blue Bird taxi driver for 20 years. (005)