City will not impose new taxi fares soon: Sutiyoso

JAKARTA (JP): Taxi commuters can still enjoy services at the usual fares after the city administration decided to postpone the introduction of new fares for the near future.

Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that he would still need to discuss the matter with related institutions before imposing the new taxi fare.

"The new fare will not be imposed in November because I have not received the letter of recommendation from the city council.

"So, I will not issue the decree on the fare hike in the near future," he told journalists.

Sutiyoso said that although the city council had recommended a 45-percent hike, it did not mean that the administration would impose the same percentage.

"I have not decided anything on the hike percentage," he said.

The new taxi fare has drawn controversy in the capital over the past two months following an earlier announcement on Sept. 1 of the 45-percent hike.

Due to strong public protest, the administration then decided a week later to delay imposing the new fare.

After a one-month suspension, the city council endorsed the 45 percent fare hike proposed by taxi companies in the capital and the letter, signed by City Council Speaker Edi Waluyo, was sent to Sutiyoso on Oct. 24.

Before the Sept. 1 hike, Sutiyoso issued Gubernatorial Decree No. 2503/2000 on Aug. 22, which allowed taxi companies to raise the flagfall from Rp 2,000 (around 25 US cents) to Rp 3,000, and increase charges from Rp 900 to Rp 1,300 per kilometer. The waiting fee was also increased from Rp 10,000 to Rp 13,000 per hour.

Of the 32 taxi companies operating in the capital, two have rejected the fare hike, saying their companies can survive without raising the fares. The two companies are Steady Safe and Citra Taxi.

Separately, chairman of the council's Commission D on Development Affairs Sayogo Hendrosubroto said the council had recommended that the city administration accommodate some taxi companies which opposed the fare hike.

"They have to develop some mechanism so the two taxi companies do not have to comply with the new fare. We hope that the City Land Transportation Agency will set the mechanism," Sayogo said.

He further said that the city council did not have the authority to force the city administration to impose the new taxi fare, citing that the council underlined in its recommendation that the 45 percent hike was a maximum figure.

"We cannot say whether we agree or disagree with the 45- percent hike, because we do not have such authority to force the city administration.

"Hopefully, the administration will give freedom to some taxi companies which do not want to hike the fare to set their own fares," he added. (dja)