Taxiploitation: Intensified Exploitation and the Collective Resistance of Platform-Based Transport Drivers

On May 20, 2025, thousands of online motorcycle taxi drivers, ride-hailing drivers, and couriers from various platform providers carried out a mass 'off-bid' action and staged demonstrations in numerous cities and regencies across Indonesia. These included Jakarta, Bandung, Sukabumi, and Cirebon in West Java; Semarang in Central Java; Surabaya in East Java; Yogyakarta; Palembang in South Sumatra; Lampung; and the Greater Banten area [1].

They protested against the partnership-based employment model in the delivery system, the lack of legal protection, and the imposition of unfair fare deductions.

In Jakarta, after failing to stage a demonstration at the Ministry of Transportation due to security force barricades, the protest was relocated to the Patung Kuda area, approximately 200 meters from the State Palace. There, they were received by representatives from the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Kemenkopolkam). Speaking to the press, Kemenkopolkam pledged to facilitate a meeting between representatives of the protesters and the Ministry of Transportation (Tempo.co, May 20, 2025 ) 

Later that afternoon, on the same day, representatives of the protesters met with officials from the Ministry of Transportation. On this occasion, the Ministry pledged to address the demands raised by the demonstrators. However, the Ministry also stated that the issues presented would require further review and assessment (Antaranews.com, May 20, 2025).

A day earlier, on May 19, platform operators—including Grab, GoTo, Maxim, and Indrive—held a focused discussion with the Ministry of Transportation in Jakarta. During this meeting, the platform companies rejected claims that fare deductions of up to 20 percent constituted a form of exploitation. They also opposed the proposal to reduce the per-order commission cut to 10 percent. According to the platform operators, the current deduction rates are in accordance with regulations issued by the Ministry of Transportation. Furthermore, they argued that these deductions are reinvested into consumer promotions and service innovations aimed at benefiting drivers (voi.id, May 19, 2025).

The platform operators also stated that they refused to recognize drivers as employees under formal employment relations. They argued that flexibility is the core strength of the ride-hailing business model. According to them, the flexible work arrangement allows drivers to treat delivery work as a part-time occupation, free from attendance requirements, and enables the inclusion of a larger number of drivers in the system. They further claimed that under this flexible model, drivers have the autonomy to manage their earnings based on individual performance (Forumkeadilan.com, May 19, 2025). 

On May 14, 2025, the People's Aspirations Body (BAM) of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) at Alun-Alun M. Hasibuan, Bekasi City, West Java. The FGD was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemendigi), the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub), the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker), and the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), as well as a representative from Maxim and twelve online driver associations. 

The meeting revealed that the government lacks a coherent framework to protect the rights of online drivers. A representative from the Ministry of Transportation stated that the ministry is still studying the existence and legal status of online transportation. Meanwhile, a representative from the Ministry of Manpower indicated that the government plans to position online drivers within the framework of informal sector labor (voi.id, 14 Mei 2025). 

In contrast to other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore—which have adopted a more accepting stance and established regulatory frameworks for the operation of online ride-hailing and delivery businesses—the Indonesian government has demonstrated an exclusionary form of accommodation. A defining feature of this situation is the frequent shifting of responsibility for online drivers from one ministry to another, with no single institution willing to assume clear accountability. Online drivers are often only valorized in the lead-up to elections, where they are praised as 'transportation heroes,' yet remain unprotected and unrecognized in formal labor policies, or are merely included as participants in seminars organized by the Ministry of Transportation (okezone.com, August 11, 2019).

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In Indonesia, platform operators offering online delivery services began to emerge around 2015. Numerous locally and internationally based ride-hailing and delivery applications appeared, including Anterin, Bajek, Blu-Jek, Ojek Syar’i, LadyJek, Grab, Gojek, Topjek, Ojek Kampung, Ojek Argo, FoodPanda, Pro-Jek, among others. However, some platforms such as Uber, Gojek, and Grab had already been operating prior to 2015.

Not all of these platforms survived within the competitive ecosystem of service providers. FoodPanda, a Singapore-based food delivery app, ceased its operations due to its inability to accommodate the low-cost consumption patterns of urban Indonesian customers. Bajek, a local application for passenger transport, was forced to shut down due to a lack of financial capacity to develop essential application infrastructure, such as map services. Some platforms remained operational only at the local level, such as JogjaKita and JogjaJek. Others sold their services to larger companies—for instance, Anterin, an Indonesian-based app offering passenger, food, and goods delivery services, was acquired by the MNC Group, one of Indonesia's largest media conglomerates. Additionally, certain services merged with larger platforms, as in the case of Uber merging with Grab (Thejakartapost.com, October 3, 2016; Tirto.id, March 29, 2017).

Currently, five online delivery service applications are widely used in major cities across Indonesia: Gojek, Grab, Maxim, Shopee, and InDrive. According to The State of Mobile 2024 Report, throughout 2022–2023, Gojek was the most downloaded ride-hailing application, with 957,000 downloads. It was followed by the Russian-based applications Maxim and InDrive, with 892,000 and 321,000 downloads respectively, and Grab Driver with 170,000 download[1] (Katadata.co.id, January 23, 2024).

The Deepening of Employment Informality in the Platform Economy

The online ride-hailing service business represents a form of industry that has grown by relying on internet connectivity, mobile phone technology, the availability of motor vehicles, state-provided traffic infrastructure, and banking systems. This type of business is referred to by various terms, including the sharing economy, collaborative economy, gig economy, on-demand economy, and platform economy.

This industry model is heavily dependent on freelance labor, whose daily work involves collecting data and information related to consumers' knowledge, behaviors, and emotional responses. These freelance workers are labeled as independent contractors and are required to bear the full risks associated with their labor (Fuchs 2010: 186; Aloisi 2015: 1).

Online drivers have become increasingly aware that the conditions they face are deteriorating. The promises of flexibility have not been fulfilled. On the contrary, they find themselves increasingly bound to long working hours with highly unstable incomes. On average, drivers must work more than 12 hours a day, 30 days a month, without access to social protection. They are required to meet a range of demands, from owning and maintaining motor vehicles to bearing the risks of road accidents. 

Moreover, they are subject to strict surveillance by platform operators and face the constant threat of deactivation or dismissal. Many drivers have concluded that the working conditions in the ride-hailing industry are not significantly different from those found in traditional manufacturing sectors. 

KHL (Komite Hidup Layak/Living Wage Committee), an alliance of trade unions and labor observers, released a report on the spending patterns and survival strategies of workers' households in the gig economy, manufacturing, fisheries, plantation, and mining sectors in 2023 and 2024 (KHL, 2023; KHL, 2024). A report on the gig economy in the transportation sector reveals that the average monthly household expenditure of 33 online motorcycle driver families in the Greater Jakarta area (Jabodetabek) amounts to IDR 9.3 million. This consists of IDR 2.7 million for food-related expenses and IDR 6.5 million for non-food expenditures. The largest non-food expenses include fuel purchases, motorcycle installment payments, and mobile data packages. 

The study also shows that motorcycle taxi drivers survive by reducing their consumption and nutritional intake, extending their working hours (on-bid time), registering multiple accounts with different platform operators, and relying on debt.

According to international labor standards, the average standard working time is 160 hours per month. In contrast, motorcycle ride-hailing drivers (ojol) work an average of 418.3 hours per month. This means that one month of work as a motorcycle driver is equivalent to approximately 2.5 months of working time for a laborer in the manufacturing or service industries.

On 2024 KHL studied found that nearly all of the 80 motorcycle taxi drivers surveyed in the Greater Jakarta area (Jabodetabek) were trapped in debt. These debts were incurred through formal and informal lending institutions, including non-bank lenders and online loan services. The borrowed funds were primarily used to cover motorcycle installment payments, mobile phones, and daily living expenses. What is particularly alarming is that some of these debts are facilitated through loan features embedded within the ride-hailing platforms themselves.

A New Phase of Resistance: From Platforms to Application Operators

Ten years into its operation, the supply and demand for online ride-hailing services have reached a state of equilibrium. Platform operators have ended the 'cash-burning' period—a phase characterized by aggressive spending on driver bonuses and incentives. 'Cash-burning' is a colloquial term used to describe promotional strategies.

Currently, promotions are channeled through mainstream media, similar to practices in other industries. The recruitment of online motorcycle taxi drivers now resembles that of the manufacturing sector, involving third-party actors and paid recruitment schemes. Drivers are increasingly expected to maintain consistency in their 'on-bid' hours, echoing time-management norms commonly found in industrial labor settings.

Over the past three years, motorcycle taxi drivers have begun organizing into trade unions, either by affiliating with existing manufacturing unions or by forming independent associations. In addition, drivers have strengthened community-based structures to address their shared concerns. They have developed hybrid organizing methods that combine fluid, mutual-aid-based community approaches with the structured strategies of trade unions—enabling them to exert pressure on both platform operators and the state. 

As discussed earlier in this article, one prominent form of resistance has been the strategic deactivation of the app. This method has drawn public attention, given that platform operators are increasingly dependent on daily transactions, while users have come to rely on online transport. One form of everyday resistance expressed by drivers is the deliberate use of the term 'aplikator' to refer to platform operators. While 'aplikator' has no equivalent in English, its usage reflects a critical awareness among drivers that technology is not neutral but is instead operated, controlled, and managed by human labor

[1] Shopee, a Singapore-based e-commerce company, has provided parcel delivery services through its SPX Express feature since 2018 and food delivery services through ShopeeFood since 2020 (bigalpha.id, June 2, 2021). Maxim entered Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2018 under the name PT Teknologi Perdana Indonesia. InDrive began its operations in Indonesia in 2019.