TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tri Cahyono, transportation observer from Universitas Indonesia, said Uber taxi emerged because the Jakarta government has no minimum standards for every type of transportation. "Uber taxi takes advantage of that and offers exclusive services," he said yesterday.
The government has not paid attention to services in transportation system. As a result, every vehicle operator can launch its operation without any standard, which is detrimental to people who will use mass transportation.
Service standards are important because they can become benchmarks for every operator to give maximum services and provide excellent comfort and security for passengers. Only a few companies have these service standards. The absence of it creates an imbalanced competition for operators. "Uber taxi may try to offer something different in its services," Tri said.
The government must immediately evaluate minimum service standards for transportation in Jakarta, including taxi, in order to keep more illegal transportation operators to emerge in the future.
Uber taxi, which can only be ordered online, has violated the regulations because every type of transportation must have operational permit from the government. "Uber taxi is illegal since it has no permit," said the observer.
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