Not A Choice, But Pushed by the System
To understand how the commission system works in practice, take Bunga (anonymous). After joining a May Day rally in Yogyakarta this year, she went back to work. At 11:47 PM, she checked the detailed breakdown for a completed trip. The passenger paid IDR 24,000. The app showed:
- Trip fare (80% for Driver Partner): IDR 19,500 ($1.10)
- Insurance fee: IDR 1,000 ($0.06)
- App service fee: IDR 3,500 ($0.20)
- Bunga’s total earnings (80% of trip fare): IDR 15,600 ($0.88)
That is how a standard trip works. But the picture changes when drivers use the platform’s subscription feature. Programs like GoRide Hemat charge drivers IDR 2,500 to IDR 12,500 (roughly $0.14–$0.70) for a bundle of two to nine or more orders. When the feature was launched in late 2025, it cost just IDR 100 (less than one US cent).
Officially, participation is optional. In practice, drivers who opt out find their accounts go anyep, a term drivers use to describe a sudden and sharp drop in incoming orders directly cutting their earnings.
“If we join the subscription program, we pay IDR 13,000 (about $0.73) for seven trips. Gojek charges IDR 12,500, Grab charges IDR 13,000,” Wuri explains.
Wuri and her driver community, Wakanda, have refused to use the feature. They believe it enables low fares and poor working conditions. The cost is real: drastically reduced income. To compensate, they have shifted to parcel delivery though the rates tend to be even lower.
Still, Wuri acknowledges that not every driver has the same ability to resist. “It’s not really a choice. The algorithm system basically forces you into it,” she says.
Beyond the subscription scheme, platform tier systems add another layer of pressure. Drivers are ranked based on their performance: completed orders, equipment compliance (jackets and helmets purchased at their own expense), and sustained ratings. Reaching “priority account” status demands more time and more personal expenditure, and often with no guarantee of proportional reward.
92% on Paper
On International Workers’ Day 2026, speaking to thousands of workers and drivers gathered for the rally, President Prabowo Subianto announced a new policy.
“How much should the ojol cut be? 20%? 15%? 10%? You want 10%? I’m telling you right now — I don’t agree with 10%. It has to be below 10%,“ he declared.
The result was Presidential Regulation No. 27 of 2026 on the Protection of Online Transportation Workers, which caps the platform commission at 8%. Platform companies have since issued official statements committing to comply and have scrapped the paid subscription system alongside it. Before this regulation, the commission cap was set at 20% under the Ministry of Transportation’s Decree KP 1001 of 2022.
On paper, the change looks significant. Drivers now retain 92% of the fare which is a substantial share. But numbers on paper do not always translate into decent income.
IDEAS research calculated that under the 20% commission, after deducting daily operational costs (fuel, food and water, mobile data, oil, and vehicle maintenance) averaging IDR 65,694 ($3.70) per day, drivers were left with a net income of around IDR 60,619 ($3.40) per day, or IDR 1.51 million ($85) per month.
Simulations by IDEAS researcher Anwar project that reducing the commission to 10% or 8% would raise net income by 26–31%, bringing it to approximately IDR 1.91–1.99 million ($108–$112) per month. Yet compared with Indonesia’s average 2026 minimum provincial wage (UMP) of IDR 3.3 million ($186), that figure is still only about 60%.
The industry has not welcomed the change without resistance. “Most companies in this industry cannot survive these changes,” an industry representative told Reuters in January 2026. And there are concerns that platforms may respond by raising fares for passengers though a 2025 Policy Research Center survey found that 75.2% of respondents said they would be willing to pay more if it meant drivers received fair income. More than 80% criticised the commission system and additional fees, and supported regulation and decent work for drivers.
