Online Motorcycle Taxi Crisis: Drivers Deliberately Turn Off Apps During Peak Traffic Hours
JAKARTA — The phenomenon of an “online motorcycle taxi crisis,” characterised by the difficulty of obtaining online motorcycle taxi (ojol) drivers during busy periods, particularly in the late afternoon approaching the Muslim prayer of breaking the fast, stems from fare rates that drivers consider inadequate.
Yanto (42), a driver who frequently works in the Palmerah area of West Jakarta, confirmed that many online taxi drivers deliberately switch off their applications during these congested hours.
“During peak office-leaving hours in Jakarta, the traffic congestion is immense. A journey that normally takes 15 minutes can take 40 minutes or an hour. The problem is that the fare doesn’t increase accordingly; it stays the same. We waste our time and burn fuel,” Yanto explained when interviewed in Palmerah on Thursday (12 March 2026).
“Our daily earnings tend to decline because we choose to go offline before the fast breaks rather than get stuck in traffic,” he added.
Instead, he maximises his work during daytime and evening hours until the pre-dawn meal.
Similar complaints come from Fajri, a driver who has been working in the West Jakarta area since 2020. He highlighted deficiencies in the tariff system that fail to account for travel time and distance to the pickup location amid congestion.
“We only get paid from the customer’s location to their destination. The distance we travel from our base to reach the pickup point, we also encounter traffic, but this isn’t counted in the fare—it’s not included in the calculation,” Fajri complained.
Fajri also criticised the order allocation system, which frequently sends drivers to distant pickup points even when other drivers are available nearby.
“I once received a distant order. I told the passenger to wait. Then the passenger cancelled it. My rating still went down,” he explained.
This system has prompted some drivers to begin offering informal motorcycle taxi services without using the application in office areas during peak hours.
Additionally, the application’s 20 per cent commission per trip is considered excessive.
“The pickup is in traffic, the dropoff is in traffic, the fare is 15,000 rupiah, and we only get 10,000 rupiah after the commission. It’s demoralising, frankly,” Fajri said.