Bali Police have been conducting visits to taxi drivers in the South Kuta area to promote safety.
The move is an effort to improve the cooperation between the Bali Police and the transportation sector across the island.
Bali Police visited independent taxi drivers stationed at the Dalem Lamun Temple parking lot, ITDC Nusa Dua area, and within Benoa Village in South Kuta. The South Kuta Police Chief, Commissioner I Komang Agus Dharmayana W, told reporters that the visit aimed to build good communication and establish harmonious cooperative relations between the Indonesian National Police and tourism transportation operators.
Commissioner Dharmayana explained, “We hope that taxi drivers will maintain public order and security, especially in tourist areas. We must avoid any friction between conventional and online taxi drivers. All parties must respect each other and maintain professionalism in providing services to tourists.”
He told reporters how he and his teams have urged taxi drivers to always provide polite, safe service and prioritize the safety of passengers and tourists’ belongings. He shared, “Let’s work together to protect the good name of Bali tourism. If any tourists behave inappropriately or cause a disturbance, please report it immediately to the police. Our team is ready to act quickly.”
A spokesperson for the Kowinu Taxi Bali community expressed their appreciation for the visit from the South Kuta Police Chief and his team. They shared that this visit provided motivation and encouragement to continue supporting the National Police’s efforts to maintain security and order, particularly in the tourism transportation sector.
The statement concluded, “We are very grateful for the attention and visit of the Police Chief. The direction and input from the police will guide our work and behavior.”
Over the years, there have been waves of tension between local independent taxi drivers and online taxi drivers. Generally speaking, tourists have an increasingly strong preference for online taxi services like Grab and GoJek, and use private taxi companies like Bluebird via the app.
This has often caused tensions with independent local taxi drivers who feel that online taxi companies have been capitalising on the market and not contributing to the upkeep of local roads.
The situation has been calm for many months now, following a series of protests in January 2025 by the Bali Tourism Driver Struggle Forum (FPDP), who marched to the Regional People’s Representative Council of Bali (Bali DPRD), the office of the provincial government, to make six very specific demands.
Demands included creating a quota on the number of online taxi service providers allowed to be registered in the province, for both motorcycle and car taxis. The FPDP also called on the government to implement stricter regulations connected to vehicle rentals for tourists, for both motorcycles and cars. The third demand was to establish a standardized set of rates for taxis across the board.
The fourth was to restrict taxi companies, enabling them to hire drivers only with Balinese ID cards. The fifth demand called for all tourist transportation vehicles to have local Bali Province license plates. The final demand was to create a set of standardized criteria for tourist drivers coming to Bali from outside the province.
The Bali Provincial Government agreed to implement stricter enforcement of existing laws and work to increase surveillance and supervision of the taxi and transportation sector to ensure that all road users obey the law.
For tourists traveling to Bali, it is essential to note that it is absolutely legal to use online taxi providers like GoJek and Grab. Some villages and attractions have no online taxi pick-up zones, in order to prioritise local taxi service providers.
If a tourist is harassed for using online taxi providers, it is encouraged to report the incident to local police or security teams as quickly as possible.
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