Indonesian ride-hailing firm confronted by law vs motorbikes as public transport

INDONESIAN MOTORBIKE-HAILING company Go-Jek may encounter challenges in its plan to operate in the Philippines, given legislation prohibiting motorcycles to be used as public transport.

The Indonesian firm said it plans early next year to expand to the Philippines, in what should be its first country of operation outside its home base of Indonesia.

Other countries are also being considered besides the Philippines. The company would first test some of GoJek’s core services such as transportation, and then its payments services.

Established in 2010 as a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service, Go-Jek now also provides other transportation and payments and lifestyle services. These include the original motorcycle-hailing service (Go Ride), as well as car-hailing (Go Car), digital payments service (Go Pay) and massage bookings (Go Massage).

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Martin A. Delgra III said they will still implement the law when it comes to motorcycles as public transport.

Jurisdiction of motorcycles is under the Land Transportation Office (LTO), but their use as public transport falls under the local government unit or the LTFRB, Mr. Delgra said.

Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code states that private motorcycles are not allowed to transport passengers.

Under the law, motor vehicles should be registered under one of the following classifications: private passenger automobiles; private trucks; and private motorcycles, scooters, or motor wheel attachments. Motor vehicles registered under these categories “shall not be used for hire under any circumstances” and should not be used to solicit, accept, or be used to transport passengers or freight for a fee.

“If the lawmakers would think that public motor bikes may be considered a safe mode of public transport, we just comply, we just execute the laws that will be put in place. But (for) now, the law says, it is not a safe mode of public transport,” Mr. Delgra told BusinessWorld in a chance interview during a Department of Transportation (DoTr) event.