REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 32 of 2016 on mass transportation without set routes, which also covers app-based transportation services, should ensure fairness for all parties, a senior minister stated. "The regulation should ensure fairness. We should not grant privileges to anyone," Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan stated during a seminar here on Thursday.

Hence, the regulation related to the upper and lower fare limits had been revised. The upper and lower fare limits will be set by the local government. "We set the upper and lower fare limits," the senior minister remarked.

Also read: Minister of transportation regulation to be effective on April 1st

Luhut noted that app-based transportation services should adhere to the regulation. If app-based transportation service companies refuse to comply with the rule, they should be ready to pull out of Indonesia. "The policy formulated by the government was aimed at protecting investment in the country," the minister remarked.

With regard to tariff, the government will seek the best possible solution in an attempt to protect consumers.

The senior minister will hold a coordination meeting to discuss Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 32 of 2016 on Friday (Mar 24). He pointed out that the regulation will not affect the investment climate in Indonesia.

Reuters had earlier reported that Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab will invest US$700 million to expand its operations in Indonesia over the next four years, marking its biggest-ever investment in any country. Grab's push, in what has become its largest market, is set to intensify the competition among ride-hailing firms in Indonesia. Grab's rivals in the country include US firm Uber Technologies Inc and home-grown app, Go-Jek.

Grab will open a research and development (R&D) center, start a new investment fund, and develop its payment platform in Indonesia. It had also hired Indonesia's former national police chief to oversee corporate governance.

Grab revealed that its R&D center in Jakarta will develop localized solutions, such as algorithms, to address the road regulations in the Indonesian capital. It will also invest up to $100 million in early-stage start-ups, or aspiring "technopreneurs."

Grab, which was co-founded by Harvard Business School graduate Anthony Tan, raised $750 million in a funding round last September, more than a month after its Indonesian rival, Go-Jek, received $550 million from investors, including KKR and Warburg Pincus.

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