Organda seeks to raise taxi fares
Organda seeks to raise taxi fares
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta chapter of the Organization of Land Transportation
Owners (Organda DKI) is seeking to raise taxi fares by an average
of 136 percent following the fuel price increases.
"Raising taxi fares is urgent because the recent fuel price
increases are causing us to bleed money. An increase is
necessary, otherwise we will go bankrupt," Organda DKI taxi
division head Ateng Aryono said on the sidelines of a meeting
between the City Transportation Council, the City Council and the
City Transportation Agency to discuss public transportation
fares.
Stressing that fuel accounts for 17 percent of the operational
costs of a taxi company, Ateng said his office had submitted a
proposal on the fare increases to the city administration.
He said Organda DKI proposed raising the flag-fall charge from
Rp 4,000 to Rp 7,100, the charge per kilometer from Rp 1,800 to
Rp 2,600, and the waiting fee from Rp 18,000 to Rp 52,000.
"With the recent fuel price rise, we have to raise taxi fares
by at least 45 percent just to weather the ballooning cost of
gasoline, which does not take into account the soaring prices of
spare parts," he said.
He did not say when his office submitted the proposal to the
Jakarta administration.
It was not immediately clear if the city administration would
sign off on the proposal. It usually takes about a month for the
administration to approve a fare increase, though it could take
longer given the size of the increase proposed by Organda DKI.
The government raised the price of Premium gasoline from Rp
2,400 per liter to Rp 4,500 a liter, diesel from Rp 2,100 to Rp
4,300 a liter, and kerosene from Rp 700 to Rp 2,000 a liter. The
higher prices took effect on Oct. 1.
Ateng, who is also an executive with the city's largest taxi
operator, the Blue Bird Group, said his company was spending an
additional Rp 600 million a day because of the higher fuel
prices.
The Blue Bird Group owns about 9,000 of the 26,000 licensed
taxis operating in the capital
Ateng said the fuel price increases would also cause the cost
of spare parts to go up by an average of 30 percent.
"We also have to take into account the increase in spending on
drivers' salaries when the expected rise in the provincial
minimum wage takes effect," he said.
The city's minimum monthly wage currently stands at Rp
711,843. The administration is considering an increase in the
minimum wage, but there are still no details on when or by how
much it may rise.
The secretary of the Organda DKI taxi division, JH Sitorus,
said the proposed fare increase would not be applied to all taxi
operators.
"We would allow other taxi operators with older vehicles and
without the ability to rejuvenate their cars to maintain the old
fare. It would be unfair if we forced them to apply the new fare
and required them to keep up with the level of service offered by
the newer cabs," he said.
He said that although Governor Sutiyoso approved a 36 percent
increase in taxi fares in March, several taxi companies had
chosen to maintain the old fare, with a flag-fall charge of Rp
3,000 instead of the new charge of Rp 4,000.
Some taxi drivers oppose plans to raise fares, saying this
will make it more difficult to find passengers given the
competition in the capital.