Jakarta: Protests on the streets of Indonesia's capital are nothing new.

From the downfall of former president Suharto, nigh on 20 years ago, when students took to the streets en masse to the more recent protests against former governor Ahok - a lazy 200,000 converged on central Jakarta for one rally in December 2016 - Indonesians aren't afraid to make themselves heard.

Gojek, Uber and Grab drivers shut down part of Jakarta on Tuesday to demand equal pay. Credit:James Massola

And so, last Tuesday, thousands of ojek (the Bahasa word for motor cycle taxi) drivers swarmed to the Jalan Meda Merdeka Barat, across the road from the Presidential palace, to voice their concern about pay and conditions.

The riders worked mostly for GoJek, a local start-up that has grown exponentially in the last three years.