Taxi fares unaltered until meters reset
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has issued a gubernatorial decree setting out maximum taxi fares effective Tuesday, taxi firms have yet to raise the fares as they will need at least three days to reset their meters in accordance with the new tariffs.
"No operators raised the fares today ... We need time to adjust our meters in line with the new fares. Taxi passengers will continue to enjoy the current fares, at least for the coming two or three days," said Ateng Aryono, the head of the taxi section of the Jakarta branch of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda DKI).
Under the new rules, taxi passengers will have to pay Rp 5,000 for the flag fall and a per-kilometer charge of Rp 2,600 compared to the current flag fall of Rp 4,000 and per-kilometer charge of Rp 1,800. In addition, the hourly waiting fee has been increased to Rp 25,000 from the current Rp 18,000 per hour.
According to Ateng, once Organda received a copy of the gubernatorial decree, it would issue a directive for the implementation of the decree by taxi operators.
"The taxi operators are free to decide whether they will apply the new charges or not," he said.
Meanwhile, Jakarta Industry and Trade Agency director Ade Suharsono said that as of Tuesday afternoon, his agency had yet to receive any request for the resetting of meters from taxi firms.
"The resetting of the meters is carried out based on requests made by the taxi operators. This is not a mandatory policy. Operators of old taxis who fear that they will find it hard to get passengers with new the fares can maintain the current fares," he said.
He said that his agency was ready to reset the meters of all the taxicabs operating in the city "within only a week."
There are 42 taxi firms running a total of 26,000 cabs in the city.
Many taxi drivers have opposed the increase, saying that it would make it even more difficult for them to find passengers.
"Even with the current fares, many passengers are complaining about the high cost. We are also seeing fewer passengers. The new fares will certainly kill business for us," said Harahap, a driver with the Dian Taksi Group.
He was alluding to the first taxi fare hikes on March 30 this year when the administration raised the ceiling by an average of 36 percent.
He blamed tougher competition in the city taxi business owing to an influx of cabs into Jakarta from neighboring cities like Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.
In Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi, there are at least 15 companies operating 17,000 cab, many of which also operate in the capital.
Harahap also complained that the recent gasoline increase had significantly reduced his daily earnings as he had to fork out Rp 140,000 a day for fuel compared to Rp 70,000 before the hike.
The Jakarta Transportation Agency said that the demand for taxis in the capital was growing by 6.5 percent annually. It estimated that the number of people using taxis would reach 703,510 per day this year. Based on the assumption that each taxi could transport 32 people per day, it estimated that the city needs at least 27,435 taxi cabs on the road.