Mixed views on taxi fare hike

JAKARTA (JP): The new taxi rate in the city which took effect on Saturday has yet to have any significant impact on the drivers' income even though some people have started to discontinue using cabs due to the tariff hike.

But several taxi drivers told The Jakarta Post that the real impact, which may include a substantial drop in their daily earnings, would become crystal clear beginning Monday.

A strike by drivers of Silvera taxi company in Bekasi, West Java marked the initial day of the new tariff implementation. The drivers demanded a delay to the new rate.

The Jakarta Chapter of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) on Friday announced the hike in the taxi tariff following the official approval from Governor Sutiyoso.

The hike had been initially proposed in the middle of the year but was strongly opposed by the public and drivers, who worried that the hike would only benefit their companies which usually put up rental fees in line with the new tariff.

Under the new rate, the flag fall is now Rp 3,000 from Rp 2,000 and the meter charge Rp 1,300 from Rp 900 per kilometer. The waiting fee was hiked from Rp 10,000 to Rp 13,000 per hour.

On the first day of the new rates, PT. Kosti Jaya taxi company seemed likely to follow two other firms, namely PT. Citra Taxi and PT. Steady Safe, which have stated since Friday they would not follow Organda's announced increase.

By organization, all private land transportation firms, including those in the taxi business, are members of Organda.

According to a driver of Kosti Jaya, his company had yet to impose the new rate on their passengers.

"There hasn't been any announcement from the office. We are still charging passengers the old fare. Personally I do not mind the new fare hike as long as the company does not increase the rental fee," Subur from Kosti said.

"If they raise the rental fee in proportion to the hike, it will only benefit the companies' executives and owners, not us, the drivers," he said.

Blue Bird taxi driver Arismunandar said that he had a grim experience on the first day of the new tariff when a passenger, who probably had no idea about Friday's announcement, hastily left the cab after being informed about the new rate.

"He was shocked and immediately stepped out of my cab. For passengers traveling a long distance, the fare hike will really burden them," he said.

The same sadness was also experienced by driver Sanusi from Silvera Taxi. A female passenger, he said, abruptly refused to use his taxi after being told about the new rate. The woman then jumped into a bus, he said.

"She may have learned about the hike from newspaper reports, and therefore asked me whether I applied the new rate or not. When I said yes, she refused to take the taxi," he said.

Arismunandar said however that, some regular customers still take his cab as they said that they had no other choice of transportation.

"But we have to see what happens on Monday because today is not a working day, so we cannot say whether we'll lose our customers or not," he added.

Another Blue Bird taxi driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the management of his firm had hiked the minimum daily target to Rp 310,000 from Rp 214,000 following the implementation of the new taxi rate.

"So the fare hike did not increase our income, because they (the management) did not raise our commission. Actually, the hike of the taxi rate only benefits the owners and not us," he remarked.

This driver suggested the public, who badly needed to use taxis, take the Silver Bird cabs instead because the tariff would not be too different compared to the regular taxis since the so- called executive taxis still apply its old rate, which is Rp 3,500 for the flag fall and Rp 1,500 for each additional kilometer.

An Express Taxi driver Matwah said he decided to charge passengers the old rate because the company has not yet increased the rental fee even though it already supplied its drivers with a list of the new rates.

"I will stick with the old fare as some other taxi companies still use the old rate too," he said.

Jakarta is home to some 16,000 taxis from 32 companies. (dja)