Taxi companies take heat for robberies

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Slack hiring policies, poor monitoring and a lack of training are among the reasons being cited for a recent increase in robberies committed by taxi drivers against passengers in Jakarta over the past several weeks.

Taxi driver Dani, 34, said anybody could become a taxi driver for any taxi company, as long as he had an identity card and a valid driver's license.

"I have been a taxi driver for over five years and I have worked for several taxi companies. Each time, all I had to do was show my identity card and a valid driver's license," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said most, if not all, taxi companies failed to perform background checks on drivers.

Dani said that many drivers loaned out their cabs to friends and relatives, only requiring that they pay the daily rental fee on the taxi and give them a little money as well.

"These kinds of drivers have nothing to lose or do not care about any regulations as long as they get money," said Dani, adding that with so many unemployed people in the city there were always people willing to drive a cab.

He said most taxi companies had regulations in place calling for the dismissal of drivers who loaned out their taxis, but these regulations were rarely enforced.

According to data from the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), there are about 22,000 taxis in the capital.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said earlier that in most taxi robberies, drivers cooperated with accomplices to rob passengers.

He said many registered drivers handed over their taxis to unregistered drivers, who in turn gave the cabs to other people.

"The last driver will have to make a lot of money to pay the other taxi drivers. This can make them start to think about an easy way to make some money, and they end up robbing passengers," he said.

There has been a rise in the number of reported robberies by taxi drivers and their accomplices over the past few weeks, with two women, one pregnant, being robbed in the last two days.

Acknowledging that many taxi operators had weak hiring procedures and failed to monitor drivers properly, the head of the Jakarta chapter of Organda, Herry Rotty, said his organization had a program to train taxi drivers in ethics and service, but a lack of funds meant the program was unable to reach many drivers.

"Many taxi operators do not care about training. We have cooperated with the land transportation agency and the police to provide training for public transportation drivers, including taxi drivers. However, we can only train 50 drivers a year while there are 250,000 drivers in the city. How can we train them all?" he told the Post.

He proposed that taxi companies offer regular training for their drivers to ensure they provide safe and professional service to passengers.