It was reported that Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso has said that the Indonesian government is devising a policy to protect online motorcycle taxi drivers, locally known as ojol.
“We are preparing for it, maybe the fastest will be in the form of a manpower ministerial regulation. We are reviewing (the regulation draft) and will optimize it in the fourth quarter,” he informed here on Wednesday (October 2).
He said that ojol drivers are often not considered formal workers and are referred to as “partners” by the tech companies that oversee them. This has raised concerns that ojol drivers do not enjoy employment rights.
“We want all workers to have the rights to employment and health insurance, and so on. That is what we will do,” Moegiarso added.
However, he did not confirm whether the regulation will remove the “partner” status of ojol drivers, considering that they have different job characteristics from workers in general.
According to him, the government is focusing on adjusting the employment insurance policy by considering the employment agreement between ojol drivers and their companies.
“There are some notes, like whether the health and employment insurance can be fully (covered) or not. The government is present and will help,” he said.
Earlier, Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi said that he would hold a mediation between tech companies running online transportation applications and their ojol partners to find solutions to existing problems.
Setiadi informed that the mediation will seek to ensure that both sides get a fair solution that is based on their needs.
The National Ojol Coalition on August 29, 2024, asked the Ministry of Communication and Informatics to evaluate application companies’ programmes, which they consider to not be fair to ojol drivers. – Antara News
