The Transportation Ministry has advised ride-hailing apps Uber and Grab to cooperate with legal public transportation operators, particularly taxi and rental car operators, so they can operate legally.

"Grab Taxi can cooperate with taxi companies, while Grab Car and Uber can cooperate with car rental companies," said the Transportation Ministry's land transportation acting director general, Sugiharjo, in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Both Uber and Grab stated previously that they were IT application providers, not public transportation companies.

The Transportation Ministry, Communications and Information Ministry and Jakarta Transportation Agency will determine the transition period so both companies have enough time to cooperate with other transportation companies, said Sugiharto.

A decision on the duration of the transition period will be announced after a meeting that will be led by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on Thursday, the official said.

Sugiharto added that Uber and Grab would be allowed to operate but could not expand during the transition period.

Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan has repeatedly said that Grab, Uber, Go-Jek and other ride-hailing applications have been operating illegally because they do not meet the requirements of the Transportation Law.

Therefore, Sugiharto explained, if they failed to obtain the necessary licenses during the transition period, the government would enforce the law by imposing sanctions on their drivers.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Transportation Agency chief Andri Yansyah added that during the transition period, the administration will not impose any sanctions on ride-hailing app drivers. "The cars are not licensed, therefore we cannot revoke anything in the transition period," Andri said. (bbn)