Taxi firm tightens control after violent robbery
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Would-be passengers have to be careful when taking a taxi, even if it belongs to a reputable company.
City police have arrested a Blue Bird taxi driver, identified as Supriyadi, 45, for plotting with friends to rob his passengers.
Blue Bird Group spokesman Riva Lazuardi admitted on Thursday that Supriyadi, who drove a Pusaka Lintas taxi with door number EL 816, had used his cab to rob and assault South Korean Nam Ho In, 40, last Oct. 1. Taxis belonging to the Blue Bird Group are known for their security.
Supriyadi and his accomplice snatched Nam's cell phone and Rp 9.5 million in cash. Supriyadi and his two accomplices were arrested last Wednesday and are now in police custody.
"We have done our utmost to ensure the security and safety of our passengers with our tough recruitment system for drivers. However, we admit that the system cannot guarantee security and safety 100 percent. This case is the first in our 33 years of operation," Riva told The Jakarta Post.
He said that his company, which operates 9,000 of the more than 26,000 taxis in the capital, has taken measures to respond to the incident.
"We have tightened requirements for new drivers, while we are also carrying out new screening processes for all of our 15,000 drivers," he said.
In addition, the company would intensify its monitoring system using an incentive scheme where drivers will receive rewards for informing on any wrongdoings by their colleagues.
"We will again empower our internal plainclothes patrol force who pretend to be passengers to catch out bad drivers," he added.
He advised passengers to as much as possible use the taxi call service rather than just stopping a taxi on the street.
"We are awaiting the results of the legal proceedings over the robbery case. If the court rules that the perpetrator did in fact use our taxi, then we are ready to compensate for any losses suffered by the victim," he said.
J. Hamonangan Sitorus, taxi division secretary of the Jakarta branch of the Organization of the Land Transportation Owners (Organda DKI), said many companies failed to impose tough requirements on drivers since demand for drivers has been relatively high recently amid stiffer competition in the business thanks to the influx of new players.
"It has been a common practice in some poorly-monitored taxi companies where a driver will rent his taxi to another driver, who then also rent it to another person. It's no wonder such robberies happen," he said.
"Two years ago, we tried to use a computerized system that required all taxi operators to register their drivers with Organda in order to reduce the high mobility of drivers moving from one company to another. Unfortunately, such a system is no longer effective as many operators are reluctant to use it," he said.
Currently, there are at least 42 taxi companies operating in the city alone.
He said that little had been done by the administration to regulate taxi operators.