House Commission IX Member Proposes Restructuring of Ride-Hailing Ecosystem
Jakarta, VIVA – The latest data from the National Labour Force Survey (Sakernas) by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) for August 2025 shows that a significant proportion of workers spend far beyond reasonable working hours (overwork), exceeding 49 hours per week. The figure reaches 25 per cent of Indonesia’s total workforce of 146.59 million people.
The ILO Convention stipulates that the maximum reasonable working hours are 40 hours per week. Overtime regulations permitted under Law No. 6 of 2023 in conjunction with Government Regulation No. 35 of 2015 allow a maximum of four hours per day. Workers in the formal sector are already protected by these provisions.
However, the overwork phenomenon predominantly affects informal and gig workers such as ride-hailing (ojek online) drivers. In other words, overwork is not driven by job demands but rather by income needs — workers put in longer hours to earn additional income.
“Excessive working hours are a symptom of their low earnings,” said House of Representatives Commission IX member Pulung Agustanto in a written statement on Monday, 16 February 2026.
He argued that this phenomenon should not be taken lightly, as excessive work will lead to declining productivity in the future, including adverse effects on workers’ health.
Pulung highlighted ride-hailing drivers as gig workers whose earnings have been steadily declining.
“To meet their needs, online drivers are forced to work beyond normal hours. Platforms profit whilst workers must bear all the risks,” Pulung said.
In Pulung’s view, the emergence of independent workers tied to digital platforms such as ride-hailing drivers has dramatically reduced unemployment figures.
“However, the role of the government and platforms in providing social security for online drivers remains limited. Even where platforms offer assistance, it is still charitable in nature,” he said.
Pulung acknowledged the efforts of one platform that has provided social security for its drivers.
“But the number of drivers receiving it is still far from the total,” he noted.
According to Pulung’s records, of 1.7 million drivers, fewer than 20 per cent receive such benefits from the platform.
Given the large number of workers in this category, the government needs to develop specific regulations to ensure fairness for this type of worker.
“The ride-hailing work ecosystem needs to be restructured to be more equitable. Going forward, regulations must be created to provide protection for workers of this kind, rather than relying on the goodwill of platforms,” he said.