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.