Indonesian taxi drivers riot over Uber and Grab
Yesterday thousands of Indonesian taxi drivers took to the streets of Jakarta to protest Uber and Grab, among other ride-hailing apps, and bought the city to a standstill. The demonstration turned violent at times, with footage on social media showing drivers attacking taxis that refused to take part and police forced to protect motorbike riders working for app-based services from angry demonstrators. President Joko Widodo has called for order and has promised a “solution to these matters” will be announced by the transport minister, without stating when that would happen or giving any clues as to what these solutions may be.

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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta ● Tue, March 22, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called for order following a chaotic rally held by thousands of taxi drivers in the capital on Tuesday in protest of ride-hailing applications.



Conventional taxi drivers are striking, aiming to push the government to shut down apps such as Uber and Grab. This is their second rally for the month, after two years of competition with popular app-based transportation has severely reduced their incomes.



"Protesting through a rally is a right, but it must be conducted in an orderly manner. The technical solution to these matters will be delivered by the transportation minister," Jokowi said on Tuesday in Jakarta.



Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan called on law enforcers to take firm action against vandal protesters. "It's a crime to carry out anarchistic and vandalistic actions. I demand they prosecute those who take anarchic action," he said.



He also urged the Jakarta Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) to mediate the tension between conventional taxis and app-based taxis by summoning Grab and Uber for a discussion to find a consensus-based agreement.



Previously, the Land Transportation Drivers Association (PPAD) announced that it would launch a huge rally on Tuesday, promising thousands of participants would converge at the House of Representatives, the Communication and Information Ministry, the Transportation Ministry and the State Palace.



During the protest, long lines of taxis blocked main roads while men set tires alight and targeted other taxi drivers who had refused to take part in the protest.



The US-based Uber and Malaysian-based GrabTaxi have been at the center of protests since last year. Drivers of traditional ojek (motorcycle taxis) have also protested the presence of ride-hailing apps introduced by homegrown company Go-Jek and Malaysia's GrabBike. (ags)(+)