SINGAPORE – Gojek will increase the commission it takes from its drivers from 10 per cent to 15 per cent starting from Feb 1, 2023, citing Singapore’s strong recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and greater use of ride-hailing services.

This means Gojek drivers will get to keep 85 per cent of the fare from every trip taken on the platform, instead of 90 per cent now.

Rival Grab charges its drivers a 20 per cent commission.

Gojek also said that a temporary driver fee, paid by passengers and on which no commission is charged, will be extended till June 30, 2023, to help drivers cope with higher operating costs.

This temporary fee was introduced in March and was supposed to expire at the end of 2022. With this fee, private-hire car trips under 10km cost 50 cents more, while longer ones cost 80 cents more.

Gojek took a 20 per cent commission, or service fee, from its drivers prior to the pandemic. It halved this to 10 per cent on June 21, 2021, to help boost driver earnings as the sector was battered by Covid-19.

On Monday, the company said it is now prudent for it to review its service fee, to be in line with “current market conditions”.

“We understand the challenges facing our driver partners, amid high fuel prices and operational costs, and have consulted with them closely on this decision. As such, we will not be restoring service fees in full,” said a spokesman for Gojek.

In a blog post addressed to Gojek drivers, the company cited a 30 per cent improvement in fares on its platform since January. It added that earnings are expected to remain sustainable, with demand recovering to pre-Covid-19 levels.

The 15 per cent commission will remain in force for at least 12 months, it said.

On Monday, Gojek also announced changes to its driver incentive scheme from Feb 1, 2023, that will reward drivers who are loyal to the platform and allow eligible ones to reduce the commission paid to as low as 0 per cent, depending on the total number of trips made, average performance and average ratings over a three-month period.

The company added: “These changes are aligned to Gojek’s focus on maintaining a strong, sustainable business in Singapore for the long term, and supports GoTo’s strategy to accelerate its path to financial independence.”

In November, GoTo, Gojek’s parent company which is based in Indonesia, announced a 12 per cent reduction of its workforce of 1,300 to curb costs.

In the same month, Gojek announced a tie-up with taxi operator ComfortDelGro in Singapore to resolve critical issues, such as a driver shortage plaguing the point-to-point transport industry in Singapore.

The tie-up included an agreement for the taxi operator to provide Gojek users with access to its taxis via the Gojek app.

Private-hire driver Richard Ong, 40, who gets two to three bookings a day through Gojek, said he had expected the commission to go up, adding that it was a good gesture from the company not to immediately raise it to 20 per cent.

“If I (previously) did 10 trips a day, I may need to do 12 trips to earn the money back,” he said.

Local ride-hailing service Tada said on Monday that it will also be extending until June 30, 2023, a temporary driver’s fee of 50 cents for trips with fares of $18 and below, and 80 cents for trips with fares of $18.10 and above.

Tada, which does not charge drivers any commission, said the fee will go directly to the drivers to support them amid rising costs.