TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Ride-hailing application companies, Grab and Go-Jek, responded to the Transportation Ministry’s plan to ban discounts on the online taxi or online ojek tariff as that might create unhealthy competition.

“We hope, whatever the decision will be, it can be reviewed holistically in terms of driver partners’ income, consumers, and the industry sustainability,” said Go-Jek VP Corporate Affairs Michael Say as quoted by Antara on Wednesday, June 12.

The ministry planned to ban tariff discounts on online ojek to prevent predatory pricing, a strategy by setting service prices at a very low level to eliminate competitors.

Go-Jek was reluctant to provide further comment before reviewing contents of the regulation or the revised one because the ban was still a plan.

Meanwhile, Grab stated its commitment to obey the government’s regulation.

“We believe every policy issued by the government is based on the result of discussions and careful consideration that will give benefits for all parties,” said Grab Public Affairs Head Tri Sukma Anreianno.

As reported earlier, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi demanded online ojek providers no longer offer tariff discounts because it would only provide temporary profit. “Discounts indeed give brief advantages, yet for the long term, it may shut off [a business]. We don’t want it to happen,” said Budi.

ANTARA