Ride-hailing drivers cheer Prabowo’s May Day cap on commission cut; will they end up worse off?

JAKARTA – Every day, Mr Renaldi Satriansyah logs on to the Grab app in order to ferry passengers through Jakarta’s snarling traffic. But a fifth of every fare that he makes goes straight to the platform.

That changed on May 1, with a long-anticipated announcement by Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto that Mr Renaldi said would see his regular income boosted by more than 10 per cent.

“We are very happy,” said the 25-year-old, who has been a Grab ride-hailing driver for more than five years.

“This is something Prabowo didn’t mention during his campaign in 2024, but he delivered it now anyway for the sake of working-class people like us.”

Mr Prabowo used May Day to announce a series of policies seen as populist, including this new regulation capping the commission taken by ride-hailing platforms at 8 per cent of drivers’ earnings.

This is a sharp cut from the 20 per cent maximum currently charged by companies like Gojek and Grab, the two largest ride-hailing platforms in Indonesia.

The cap on the platforms’ commission is effective immediately, with Mr Prabowo saying on May 1: “The split from 80 per cent for drivers has now been set at 92 per cent at the minimum.”

However, analysts warned that the policy may backfire. It may even shrink the market it is meant to protect if the platforms now earn less.

Years of frustration

Mr Prabowo’s remarks follow mounting complaints from ride-hailing drivers, who have taken their grievances to Parliament on several occasions.

For years, drivers and unions have staged periodic protests across major cities, demanding lower platform fees, better working conditions, and legal recognition as formal workers to access state benefits.

“(The platform’s commission) has to be below 10 per cent. You are the one sweating, but they are the ones getting the money. Sorry, but no,” Mr Prabowo said in his speech before tens of thousands of labourers at the National Monument (Monas) square on May 1.

“If they don’t want to follow our rules, they shouldn’t bother doing business in Indonesia,” added Mr Prabowo.

Local champion Gojek, which is part of the GoTo group, also operates an e-commerce platform and offers pay-later and food delivery services. GoTo is the entity formed after Gojek, which is Indonesia’s first decacorn – a start-up valued at more than US$10 billion (S$12.7 billion) – merged with Tokopedia.

GoTo posted its first net profit in the first quarter of 2026. Its biggest competitor in the ride-hailing and food delivery sectors is Singapore-based Grab.

Mr Muhammad Surya Wirawan, 37, who has been a Gojek partner driver for 11 years, hailed the new policy announced by Mr Prabowo. He stressed that his income from the 12-hour-a-day job has steadily declined since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The money the father of three currently makes is just enough to make ends meet, he said, whereas previously, he earned enough to set aside savings.

Beyond the commission cap, the Indonesian President also unveiled several other initiatives.

These included a promise to extend maximum mortgage terms to 40 years, up from the standard 30-year limit (and the 20-year limit for subsidised loans), with a subsidised 5 per cent interest rate per year, as compared with the typical 11 to 13 per cent interest rate.

Others included the provision of child daycare facilities for labourers and healthcare insurance for ride-hailing drivers.

In a fiery speech that drew frequent cheers and applause, Mr Prabowo also shared his views on the nation’s natural resources.

“I have learnt since I became president that our nation is very wealthy, but a lot of that wealth has been stolen. They opened plantations and mining sites without permits,” he said.

“We have sequestered nearly 5 million ha of those. We have repossessed them, and they will be returned to the people. We will take over up to 8 million ha by the end of the year.”

After delivering his speech, Mr Prabowo took off his brown, long-sleeved tactical shirt, revealing a black undershirt. He then stepped off the stage, immersing himself in a crowd of tens of thousands to shake hands with the people.

Analysts sound caution

Responding to the announcement, public policy analyst Trubus Rahardiansyah told The Straits Times it is understandable that the government took a pro-driver stance to calm growing frustrations.

However, he warned that the government must strike a balance to ensure businesses can still turn a profit.

“Investors are doing business for profit, and if their margins are insufficient, they will walk away, leaving drivers without jobs,” he added.

Another analyst, who declined to be named due to his previous ties with the government, told ST in a text message that less money going to the platforms would reduce promotional spending – popularly known as incentives or consumer discounts.

“A higher driver percentage does not guarantee higher driver income if the policy reduces trips, demand, incentives and platform investment,” the analyst said.

Regulating the split before understanding how revenue is created is the core error, the analyst stressed, warning that drivers may end up receiving 92 per cent of a significantly smaller market if trip volumes drop.

In response to the announcement, GoTo chief executive Hans Patuwo said in a media statement on May 1 that the company will always comply with government regulations and remains committed to delivering benefits to both driver-partners and consumers.

“We will review the details and implications of Presidential Decree No. 27/2026 as we aim to fully understand the adjustments we need to make,” he said, referring to the newly signed presidential regulation on the protection of online transportation workers.

Meanwhile, Grab Indonesia chief executive Neneng Goenadi said her company respects Mr Prabowo’s directive and will work with the government to ensure any policy protects drivers, while maintaining affordability for consumers and the sustainability of the industry.