Minister: 'UMKM' Status Will Ease Online Drivers' Access to Microcredit

The Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Maman Abdurrahman, stated that online motorcycle taxi (ojol) drivers classified as micro-entrepreneurs will find it easier to access financing through the People’s Business Credit (KUR) programme.

Maman explained that this ease of access is possible because drivers are already part of the digital ecosystems of application companies. Consequently, their activity and income data can be integrated with the Ministry of MSMEs’ ‘Sapa UMKM’ application to support financing access.

“If we push this financing access to our ojol friends, it becomes easier because their ecosystem is already established. They are part of digital ecosystems, whether it be the systems within Grab, GoTo, or Maxim,” Maman said following an audience with the online taxi driver community in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Maman noted that access to KUR is one of the facilities provided by designating online taxi drivers as micro-entrepreneurs.

The designation of online taxi drivers as micro-entrepreneurs will be regulated in a Presidential Regulation (Perpres), which the government is currently preparing.

Nevertheless, Maman emphasised that the distribution of KUR to online taxi drivers will still adhere to existing regulations. Drivers with problematic credit records, such as those listed in the Financial Services Information Service (SLIK) of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) with histories of bad debt, will not be eligible for financing.