Ride-hailing Crisis: Drivers Admit to Selective Order Acceptance and Logging Off
JAKARTA — Several ride-hailing users have complained about the difficulty of finding drivers during the afternoon and evening hours recently.
Fajar (28), a ride-hailing driver, stated that current discounted fare programmes are forcing drivers to carefully consider pickup distances. According to Fajar, the ideal pickup distance should be a maximum of 1 kilometre (km). If it exceeds 1 km, he believes appropriate tariffs or surge pricing should apply.
This is particularly challenging given that Jakarta’s roads are almost always congested.
“For example, if we pick up a passenger 3 km away, but the delivery is only 1 km, and the roads are congested with long traffic lights,” Fajar told Kompas.com on Thursday (12 March 2026). “The total distance could be 4 km, which could take 15 minutes without traffic. But with congestion, it feels like we’re riding 6 km,” he added.
With such short distances, Fajar highlighted that the estimated economy fare is only IDR 10,000. He argues this rate does not match the driver’s effort.
“Because IDR 10,000, according to our calculations, should only cover the pickup alone, for 3 km,” Fajar said.
Under these conditions, turning off the application or logging off represents a reasonable choice for drivers. If passengers complain about difficulty finding ride-hailing drivers during rush hours, Fajar believes this is an accumulation of many drivers logging off or avoiding congested areas.
“Some drivers ignore orders because they’re too far away or conditions are congested. Meanwhile, drivers don’t want to cancel, so they leave it to the passenger. But some drivers are willing to cancel immediately,” Fajar added.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Mulia (30), a driver in the Juanda area of Central Jakarta. Mulia does not hesitate to cancel orders or turn off his application when the booking system is blasting — randomly distributing orders rather than nearby requests.
This usually occurs during heavy rain, flooding, and bad weather, compounded by passengers using economy mode.
“Once it’s blasting, it’s better for us to log off or willing to cancel. I usually just turn off immediately. I’ve learned to recognise when it’s blasting,” Mulia said.