Prohibited to carry passengers when “New Normal”, online motorcycle taxi protest to Minister of Home Affairs

Last updated on May 7th, 2021 at 06:29 am

Since March online motorcycle taxi or Ojek Online (Ojol) is not allowed to carry passengers to break the Covid-19 chain. Later in the new normal, Ojol is still not allowed to operate carrying passengers.

This was stated in the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs No. 440-830 of 2020 concerning Guidelines for the new normal order productive and safe from Covid-19 for ASN in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Regional Governments.

In this regulation, Ojol is still prohibited from carrying passengers when a new normal is applied. The prohibition also applies to the conventional motorcycle taxi.

With this rule, it means that the motorcycle taxi is still not allowed to carry passengers during the new normal period, the same as when implementing large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).

Deputy Chairman of Commission V of the People’s Representative Council (DPR) Nurhayati Monoarfa supported the move of the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian to prohibit Conventional Ojek and Ojol from carrying passengers when a new or normal life order was implemented.

“So, two-wheeled vehicles should not carry passengers that is a wise decision,” Nurhayati as quoted by CNNIndonesia.com, Saturday, May 30.

Furthermore, Nurhayati assessed that currently, Indonesia has not returned to the condition before the coronavirus spread in Indonesia, so the ban on motorcycle taxi transporting passengers was seen as a way to prevent the virus from spreading.

Nurhayati also stressed that there were no overlapping rules between the Decree of the Minister of the Interior and the Ministry of Communication regarding Ojol.

She stated that the regulation of the Ministry of Transportation regulates nationally, while the rules issued by Tito as a guide for regional heads to obey the rules set by the Ministry of Transportation.

Previously, Tito issued Minister of Home Affairs Decree Number 440-830 of 2020 which one of the points still prohibits the services of online motorcycle taxi (Ojol) and conventional motorcycle taxi transporting passengers when new normal is applied.

Then, all public transportation other than the motorcycle taxi, must maintain the cleanliness of the interior of the vehicle and manage the queue for ticket purchases. Transportation operators must also provide non-cash payments to prevent transmission.

The Ojek Online community strongly criticized the rules issued by Tito Karnavian. Chairman of the Indonesian Guard Presidium, Igun Wicaksono was surprised by the decision of the former National Police Chief. He also questioned Tito’s reason and ended up taking care of the operational problems of the online motorcycle taxi.

While in these rules public vehicles may operate but must comply with health protocols. Not only that, but operators are also required to monitor the implementation of the queue of passengers to the cleanliness of facilities and infrastructure.

Related News: New normal on commuter line in midst of pandemic, check the rules