Go-Jek, between the Pool and Free time
KATADATA ? ?Now I can earn IDR 300 thousand to IDR 500 thousand per day,? said Maradona Saragih, one of the ojek (motorbike) drivers that has been with Go-Jek for the past three months. ?It is a net profit. Previously with the ?pool? system, I only get around IDR 150 thousand a day.?
Go-Jek is an IT-based company that gives reservation service for transportation through a mobile app in smartphones. Nadiem Makarim founded it on August 2010, and Go-Jek has successfully become the pioneer for an ojek revolution.
A common ojek driver can only operate in their pool center, waiting for costumers to come to them. But with Go-Jek, the ojek drivers are the ones that seek costumers and take them to their destination. However, Go-Jek drivers can also do more than just taking the costumers. They can provide courier services to deliver goods, order food, and buy costumers all kinds of things.
With smartphone that can be paid with a year of installment, an ojek driver can get more costumers. This is because there is a system with location-based technology that can be used by Go-Jek drivers to find the nearest place of the costumers from their current place.
?That?s why I can?t be separated with my phone. If there is some calls, I can just accept it if I want to,? said one of the Go-Jek drivers. With the smartphone, he admitted that his work has become more relaxed since he does not need to be in a hurry to go to the pool.
?I can start the day by sitting down and drink coffee from home while looking at my phone,? said the Go-Jek driver with a laugh.
Besides that, Maradona also said that the system that Go-Jek offered is also profitable for the drivers. With a sharing contract of 80:20, with 80% goes to the drivers and the other 20% goes to Go-Jek, the drivers can also be profitable. And this would make the drivers to be more eager to search for more costumers.
Therefore, Go-Jek drivers? income has also increased. ?There are those drivers that earn up until IDR 16 million per month,? said Maradona.
This is one of the reasons that made the ordinary ojek drivers to be jealous. Maradona said that there are many Go-Jek drivers that are being targeted to be harmed physically if they are fetching costumers in certain areas.
?I have memorized the dangerous areas for us to go to, starting from Kalibata City, Manggarai Station, University Indonesia in Depok, Saharjo, and many more. In Kalibata, there has been six Go-Jek drivers beaten by certain people,? said Maradona.
One of the ordinary ojek drivers that have their pool in Kalibata, near Apartment Kalibata City, said that they have rebuked a few Go-Jek drivers that go through their area. But, they never beat any of them.
The ojek driver has also admitted that he had once been invited by Go-Jek to be one of their drivers, but he refused it since he is quite satisfied with daily earnings of IDR 150 thousand to IDR 200 thousand per day.
?And basically, what Go-Jek do is to take some of our money,? said the ojek driver, referring to the sharing contract of Go-Jek.
Besides this problem, for costumers this kind of business by Go-Jek has become beneficial. The costumers, the drivers, and also Go-Jek experience the common advantage. Feby, an employee in a private company, said that the Go-Jek application has made their mobility to be much faster and relatively cheaper compared to use ordinary ojek service.
?From Senayan to Abdul Muis street, I can pay only at around IDR 28 thousand. If ordinary ojek, I can pay up until IDR 40 thousand. Go-Jek drivers are also quick to come,? said one man that always use Go-Jek service to Katadata.
