Ojol Drivers Pleased as Hemat Programme Is Scrapped, but Worried About Loss of Benefits

Several online motorcycle taxi drivers (ojol) in Bekasi City welcomed the plan to terminate the subscription service access programme ‘Hemat’ by Grab and Gojek. However, behind the policy they say they fear reductions or withdrawal of facilities that would burden ojol drivers. One of them, Edi Prayitno (40), a Gojek driver who has been working since 2015, said he fears that a reduction in the app discount to 8 percent could be followed by the removal of various facilities and promotions that drivers have long enjoyed. ‘I’m afraid the impact will be to remove freebies like free nitrogen filling. And when buying meals you usually get a discount—those will be removed. So some things will be lowered, some raised,’ he said. According to Edi, the GoRide Hemat service has so far helped him secure additional orders. However, the earnings per fare have been lower than the regular service. ‘In my view, GoRide Hemat has been quite helpful as well. But on the other hand, it’s also burdensome. For example, the fare of Rp 10,500 becomes Rp 8,800 for the hemat package,’ he said. Nevertheless, Edi said he would still support scrapping the programme entirely, provided there are no other policies that would harm ojol drivers. He also said he has previously objected to app commission cuts that had reached as high as 20 percent per journey. ‘Nowadays, for drivers it isn t about the nominal amount. If one day orders come through smoothly, alhamdulillah,’ he added. In a day, Edi usually brings home about Rp 150,000 to Rp 200,000 from 15 to 20 orders. He said being an ojol driver has become one of his livelihood options after he was laid off from a previous job at a motorcycle parts vendor company. Similar complaints were raised by Faris (32), a GrabBike driver who has worked as an ojol driver for two years. He believes Hemat should indeed be scrapped as it is burdensome for drivers.