Customers Burdened by Ride-Hailing App's Deduction and Surcharge System

Objections to the commission system and additional fees for online transportation (online motorcycle taxis/ojol) are felt not only by drivers but also by customers.

This is evident from criticism in a survey conducted by the Policy Research Center (Porec) in May 2025. A recorded 98.2% stated the importance of transparency in every transaction. This includes the percentage of fees received by the driver.

Furthermore, 91.9% also agreed on limiting the commission taken by the platform to a maximum of 10% of the transaction, without any hidden fees.

Then, 87.7% of respondents considered that additional fees beyond the delivery fee make online transportation fares more expensive.

Finally, 82.9% of customer respondents also questioned commissions exceeding 30%, which they considered unfair and very unfair.

In addition, the survey found that customers have ethical awareness when ordering ojol. As many as 91.8% agreed (somewhat agree, agree, and strongly agree) that the platform should guarantee decent work for drivers if the fare is the same.

Then, 86.4% felt they had a moral responsibility for the decency of online driver working conditions, and 75.2% were even willing to pay more if the drivers received a decent income.

Porec also filtered customer support for regulations and decent work for ojol drivers. Specifically, 98.9% supported providing social protection through health and employment insurance for drivers.

Then, 99.1% agreed that the government should protect the rights and decency of drivers. And, 83.9% supported changing the driver's status from partner to formal employee.

Porec explained that this research used a mixed methods approach, namely through an online survey of 928 online transportation service consumers in Indonesia in May 2025 and interviews with 3 consumers and 3 online drivers.

Survey respondents were selected using purposive sampling by distributing the survey through social media and advertising on the Meta platform, with the criteria of having used an online transportation platform, including passenger, goods, and food delivery services.

The survey contained 38 closed-ended questions and 2 open-ended questions, covering perceptions of commissions, fares, driver working conditions, and consumer ethical preferences.

Application Fee Deductions from the Perspective of Ojol Drivers

Katadata reported that the ojol association stated that the Ministry of Communication and Digital's (Komdigi) regulations resulted in application fee deductions reaching up to 70%.

The Chairperson of the Indonesian Transportation Workers Union (SPAI), Lily Pujiati, said that these deductions eroded the cost of food and goods delivery.

“We found platform deductions of up to 70%, while ojol drivers only receive Rp 5,200 for food delivery, even though consumers pay Rp 18,000 to the platform,” said Lily in a press statement received by Katadata (1/7/2025).

Responding to this, Minister of Komdigi Meutya Hafid said that they would coordinate with the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) regarding online motorcycle taxi regulations.

“Perhaps, there is an overlap [in regulations]. We will sit down together with Kemenhub,” said Minister of Komdigi Meutya Hafid after a Working Meeting with Commission I of the DPR in Senayan, Central Jakarta, Monday (7/7/2025).

Ojol Demonstration

The United Two-Wheeled Action (Garda) said it would hold a demonstration at the Presidential Palace on July 21, 2025. The Chairman of Garda, Raden Igun Wicaksono, estimated that 5,000 online taxi and ojol drivers would participate in this demonstration.

The alliances participating in the July 21 ojol demonstration are Garda Indonesia, Komando Relawan Satu Aspal, the Indonesian Online Transportation and Service Driver Association, Tekab Indonesia, Korban Aplikator, Komunitas Under Mainstream (KUMAN), PMO, PDOI, and Baraya Siliwangi Bersatu.

The demands of the July 21 Garda Action include:

• The state enacts an Online Transportation Law or a Perppu (Government Regulation in Lieu of Law)
• Application rental fee of 10%
• Regulation of food and goods delivery fares
• Investigative audit of online transportation application companies
• Elimination of economical programs, promotions, memberships, Aceng, slots, double orders, and others.

The July 17 demonstration rejected deductions for passenger delivery services, while the July 21 demonstration pushed for the commission taken by the application provider to be reduced from 20% to 10%.

(Read: The Working Conditions of Digital Platform Workers, Including Online Motorcycle Taxis, Are Still Inadequate)