Working Behind the App: Legal Protection for Online Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Bandung
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65815/7ker5a36Keywords:
online motorcycle taxi drivers, platform economy, legal protection, partnership, labor lawAbstract
The growth of the platform economy has transformed employment relations and created forms of work situated between conventional employment and contractual partnership arrangements. Online motorcycle taxi drivers face legal concerns involving employment status, income security, social protection, access to digital platforms, and bargaining power vis-à-vis platform companies. This study aims to examine the adequacy of legal protection for online motorcycle taxi drivers in Bandung and to analyze how the partnership model affects the fulfillment of their legal rights. The research adopts a socio-legal approach through regulatory analysis and interviews with drivers, platform companies, government officials, and driver organizations or communities. Particular attention is given to the gap between formal legal classifications and drivers’ actual experiences of platform-based work. The study argues that the designation of drivers as partners does not automatically eliminate the need for legal protection where significant control, economic dependency, and digital work regulation exist. A more adequate protection framework requires greater clarity regarding legal status, accessible complaint mechanisms, transparency in incentive and suspension systems, and broader social-security coverage. The study positions platform-economy regulation as an important issue for developing responsive labor law capable of addressing changing forms of digital work.
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