Bali bans Uber
The Bali Provincial Transport Department has officially banned Uber in Bali as of Thursday, 21 January 2016.
This ban was imposed after an official meeting between the Bali Province Department of Transportation (DISHUB), the Bali Organization of Land Transportation (Organisasi Angkutan Darat – Organda), the association of freelance drivers in Bali, representatives of GrabCar and Uber as well as the police.
Find out what the current Bali airport taxi rates are.
Suwandhi, the head of the Bali Land Transportation Agency (DISHUB), explained that one of the considerations of the ban is that Uber is similar to a conventional taxi service in which minimum rates should apply.
In addition to this, the cars used by the Uber drivers do not have the appropriate permits and often are cars from outside Bali.
So if Uber is banned what will happen with GrabCar?
It turns out that GrabCar has a different fate.
“At this moment we will continue to tolerate GrabCar rental shuttles because it operates as an intermediary between transport providers and users,” said Suwandhi at the meeting.
“In terms of services, Grabcar and Uber use the same online applications. However for the car fleet, GrabCar has a cooperation with local Bali operators who already have a transport license. GrabCar does not provide taxi transport services, but transport rental services that are paid in advance. Therefore, GrabCar is not bound to the rules of the application of the taxi fare, “said Suwandhi.
Source : Tribun Bali
Suwandhi says that the policy is valid up to the decision of the ministry of transportation. He added that this policy will be handed back to Organda, the Bali Organization of Land Transportation, as they are the ones protesting.
Source: http://bali.tribunnews.com
Amazing Blog Sharing…!!!!
Really. I was threatened by taxi drivers who ganged up upon me in Bali’s bus terminal to take their taxis when I tried to leave the bus terminal to take grabcar. They were really ferocious about not having me book a car and insisted I take their cabs, to the point where they physically blocked the exits and refused to let us out for an hour! Really traumatizing experience. I would never go back to Bali again.
Thanks, this has given me motivation to find transport alternatives in Bali.
Good decision to ban uber in bali. Taxi owners and drivers have to pass many regulations and in my opinion the fares are too cheap. the taxi companies dont need any ILLEGAL competition such as Uber. There however should be enforcement to ensure taxis use meters for all fares and they should not be able to increase prices at the airport later at night.
LOL @ Terry Hills comment….
With the cost of living in Bali the taxi gangsters are ROBBING tourists. Uber is the only fair price. Also Uber has not been officially banned in Bali, it is under investigation but the Government has not officially banned it so this article is bullshat.
Uber was banned to operate in BALI (not Indonesia) at the time of writing this article. The ban was still active in October 2016 as there was a local protest from Uber drivers against the Bali Province to lift the ban (source: TEMPO.CO).
Uber is not allowed to pick-up customers in Ubud (they risk a 10 million fine with some saying 15 million). Uber is now also no longer allowed in the Bali airport (source: CNN Indonesia). There are other areas in Bali where Uber drivers are not welcome.
Uber is offering low rates and subsidising the rides. The reason they do this is so to undercut rates and get their competition out of business to become a monopoly player. Last year this strategy of undercutting rates cost Uber a 2 billion dollar loss and and this year it will likely be a loss closer to 3 billion dollar (source: Bloomberg).
The long term goal of Uber is to have driver-less cars which is when they will really start to make money (source: Forbes). If Uber were to charge the real price for a transfer it would be higher than what you pay now.
Your statement that “Uber is the only fair price” seems to hold not much truth.