Jakarta. Indonesia’s online drivers are rejecting a plan to change their status from digital platform partners to formal workers under a proposed revision of the country’s employment law, warning that the move could undermine the flexibility that attracts people to gig work.

The Community of Online Drivers (KAJOL) Indonesia said drivers wanted stronger protections but preferred to retain their current partnership arrangements rather than become formal employees.

“We have always rejected the idea of making partners into workers,” KAJOL Indonesia Chairman Firmansyah said at a seminar on the future of Indonesia’s gig and platform economy last week.

The issue has emerged as the House of Representatives (DPR) revises the Employment Law to strengthen protections for workers while taking into account the interests of employers. The draft bill has been submitted to the government, labor unions, and business groups for input, with lawmakers now discussing the provisions article by article with stakeholders.

The government submitted its list of proposed changes to the DPR in September after the Manpower Ministry, Industry Ministry, and Cooperatives and MSME Ministry collected input from workers and employers.

The bill is targeted for completion by the end of October 2026 following a Constitutional Court ruling that prompted the revision of the employment framework.

Firmansyah said changing online drivers' status could result in rules governing their working hours and the number of orders they could accept, potentially limiting the flexibility of platform work.

He said drivers could currently decide when they wanted to work, which was one of the main reasons they joined ride-hailing platforms.

KAJOL does not oppose stronger protections for drivers, Firmansyah said, but wants them to be provided without eliminating the partnership model.

“Online drivers should remain partners, while protections must be strengthened. We go online to make money, not to make things more complicated,” he said.

The government is, meanwhile, considering a separate approach that would classify online motorcycle taxi drivers as micro-entrepreneurs, potentially allowing them to retain flexible working arrangements while gaining access to government incentives for micro, small, and medium enterprises.

MSME Minister Maman Abdurrahman said the proposed regulation on the digital transportation ecosystem was expected to be finalized "soon." He said classifying drivers as micro-entrepreneurs would allow them to retain control over their working hours while accessing MSME support programs.

Income, Orders, and Social Security
The debate comes as platform work has become an important source of income for Indonesians who struggle to find formal employment.

A survey by the Segara Research Institute found that 73.8% of online motorcycle taxi and taxi drivers surveyed said they entered the gig economy because they could not find formal employment.

The survey covered 506 gig workers in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan and Makassar in August and September 2026, including 175 online motorcycle taxi and taxi drivers.

Across all respondents, 40.3% said they joined the gig economy because they could not find formal employment, while 57.3% had never worked in the formal sector. Some 22.1% of platform drivers said they had previously been laid off.

The survey found that 81.6% of respondents relied on gig work as their main source of income, while 71.9% cited uncertain income as one of the main challenges.

At the same time, flexibility remained a major attraction. Some 88.1% of respondents cited flexible working hours as an advantage of gig work, rising to 95% among online motorcycle taxi drivers.

YB Kadarusman, an associate professor at the Prasetiya Mulya School of Business, said the central issue was not whether platform drivers should be classified as workers but whether regulations could provide adequate protection while preserving flexibility.

“The issue is not status. What matters is income, having plenty of orders and social security,” he said.

He said policymakers should avoid applying rigid employment rules to platform work, which differs from conventional employment, while establishing minimum protections for people who depend on digital platforms for their livelihoods.

The government introduced an 8% cap on commissions charged by ride-hailing platforms for motorcycle taxi services in July. The policy, introduced under Presidential Regulation No. 27 of 2026, does not currently apply to ride-hailing cars.

The Transport Ministry estimates that Indonesia had about 7 million online motorcycle taxi drivers in 2025, although platform companies report substantially fewer active drivers.

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