Workers Lose as Laws Can't Keep Pace with Rideshare Apps

In the early days, most gig platforms emerged from the unregulated voids. Motorcycle ride-hailing platforms, for example, were about to be banned by the Ministry of Transportation in 2015 but the decision was reversed within 24 hours, with President Joko Widodo asserting the apps were essential for the Indonesian people’s needs and, therefore, “a regulation should not harm the interest of the people.”

Regulations were later put in place, with the Ministry of Transportation Regulation in 2018 and 2019.   

Although both platforms and workers consider these a “victory” as they provide legitimacy and a regulatory framework for the ride-hailing business, both regulations are limited in substance.

First, they apply only to rideshare apps, which means Gojek and Grab are bound by these regulations, while food delivery platforms such as Shopee Food aren't

These legal disparities impact workers. For instance, those who work for  Shopee Food or other food delivery platforms earn less than those on the ride-hailing platforms. 

Second, these regulations focus more on the responsibilities of the workers than the platforms’ responsibilities. Permenhub 12/2019, for example, imposes the obligation to fulfill the safety, security, comfort, affordability, and regularity of ride-hailing services to the drivers, not the platforms.

The logic is that those who provide the transportation services are the drivers, not the platforms. Indeed, platforms never referred to themselves as transportation companies but technology companies, and therefore, the Transportation Ministry regulation cannot be used to regulate these ‘technology companies’.

Third, the main problem with these regulations is they do not solve the central issue regarding gig workers’ welfare and working conditions. 

Gig workers in Indonesia are not considered workers but ‘partners’. This means they do not have legal protections, as the Manpower Law does not apply to them. They are instead bound in ‘partnership relations’, or hubungan kemitraan, relations in which legal protections are almost non-existent. 

Various studies have criticized the use of partnership relations in the gig economy. The partnership relation or independent contractor model is considered a ploy so platforms can avoid their obligation to provide employment rights for gig workers, such as minimum wage and unpaid leave.

Court decisions in several countries have made it clear that relationships in the gig economy should not be considered partnerships but employment relationships.

But not in Indonesia. 

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