Why Indonesia Is Steering Grab and GoTo Merger Talks After Driver Protests

A possible merger reaches beyond business

Indonesia is helping shape talks over a possible Grab and GoTo merger that would bring together platforms controlling more than 91 percent of the country's ride market, according to Euromonitor International. As of November 14, 2025, the discussions involve several ministries and the state investment fund Danantara, alongside work on a presidential regulation for online motorcycle taxi services.

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi has confirmed that the discussions are under way. The proposed combination would unite Southeast Asia's two largest transport and delivery platforms, connecting millions of drivers and merchants with customers. It would also put questions about jobs, competition and government influence inside the same corporate negotiation.

Roughly seven million people in Indonesia are estimated to rely on online transport and delivery platforms for income. Their welfare has become an urgent political issue following unrest in August, when app drivers were prominent in demonstrations and a young motorcycle rider died after being struck by a police tactical vehicle.

Officials describe their goal as a healthy industry that supports workers and consumers. New rules under discussion would give active drivers benefits such as health insurance. Danantara is exploring involvement in a combined company, potentially through a small ownership stake carrying special veto rights.

For drivers, passengers and businesses, the central issue is how those ambitions would work together. A larger company could reduce duplicate costs and invest in technology and safety. Fewer competing platforms could also leave drivers with less bargaining power, merchants facing tougher terms and passengers receiving fewer discounts.

No completed agreement, final regulation or timetable for approval has been announced in the account available as of November 14. The discussions concern a possible deal whose terms would have to address competition scrutiny, driver livelihoods and Indonesia's influence over a dominant digital platform.

August unrest put drivers at the centre of politics

Thousands of students, rights groups and other citizens rallied in late August against government spending priorities, including benefits for lawmakers. Online motorcycle taxi riders, commonly called ojol, from ojek online, were highly visible in the crowds.

Affan Kurniawan, a rider aged 21, was struck by a police tactical vehicle during a demonstration in Jakarta on August 28. Rioting followed and spread to 32 of Indonesia's 38 provinces. The unrest left 10 people dead and led to at least 5,000 arrests.

App drivers can gather quickly across many cities because their work already places them on the streets and connects them through shared platforms and networks. That ability has made them a political constituency whose concerns reach beyond individual disputes about fares or commissions.

Muhammad Nalar Al Khair, an economist at Jakarta's Sigmaphi Research, described the August unrest as a turning point. He sees the government's merger push and regulatory redesign as efforts to reduce risk and tighten oversight.

They are doing it to maintain political and social stability.

The events and discussions span several dates:

• In 2021, Gojek and Tokopedia combined to form GoTo.
• In late August 2025, demonstrations challenged government spending priorities, including benefits for lawmakers.
• On August 28, Affan Kurniawan was struck by a police tactical vehicle during a Jakarta demonstration, followed by wider unrest.
• As of November 14, 2025, officials had confirmed merger discussions connected with drafting a presidential regulation for online motorcycle taxi services.

Driver welfare is therefore both an economic concern and a matter of political stability. Changes to platform access or earnings would affect households that rely on this work, while also reaching a community capable of mobilising rapidly.

What the presidency says it wants

Noudhy Valdryno, deputy head of Indonesia's presidential communication office, rejected claims that the government aims to reduce driver numbers. He presented its objective as fair treatment, welfare and economic growth.

Our focus is to serve the people, including the partner drivers of GoTo and Grab. Whatever the industry, we want everyone to be treated fairly, receive welfare and the economy grows.

Prasetyo Hadi, the State Secretary, linked the company discussions directly to the planned regulation. He told reporters that the talks are:

part of a government effort to draft a presidential regulation governing online motorcycle taxi services and the future of the sector.

Several ministries are participating, and Prasetyo has confirmed Danantara's involvement. The discussions therefore extend beyond whether the companies can agree on a price. They concern the rules under which a major source of work and everyday transport would operate.

The government has also floated a larger role for Danantara. People familiar with the conversations describe a possible golden share, an ownership arrangement that gives its holder veto rights over specified decisions even when the holder owns only a small part of the company.

Supporters see such rights as a way to align a powerful platform with national interests. Critics worry about placing the government inside a business whose conduct public authorities would also need to supervise. Driver benefits, ownership rights and competition safeguards would each require their own clear terms.

Health insurance could change who stays active

Draft rules under discussion would grant benefits such as health insurance to active drivers. The aim is to establish a clearer minimum level of protection in one of Indonesia's largest categories of gig work, where people earn through individual rides and deliveries arranged by apps.

An activity threshold would matter to drivers who use the platforms differently. Someone driving consistently might qualify for benefits, while someone accepting only occasional orders could lose access to them. Over time, that could reduce the driver pool.

A smaller pool could make it easier for the government and a combined company to monitor pay, safety and service quality. It would also change the choices available to people who drive part time to cover gaps in household earnings.

Supporters of stricter rules argue that a more formal system could reduce disputes over pay and platform requirements. Opponents warn that casual workers could be squeezed even though a few orders may help them keep their households afloat.

Platform work serves as a pressure valve in Indonesia's labour market. When factory or office jobs disappear, carrying passengers or delivering meals can be among the quickest ways to earn money that same day. Rules governing eligibility therefore reach into the wider question of how people manage sudden losses of income.

A tiered approach is one possible policy choice: occasional drivers could retain a route into work, while drivers working consistently receive richer benefits. The balance would depend on the final eligibility rules and how the companies apply them.

A market share above 91 percent draws scrutiny

GoTo's Gojek unit says it works with more than 3.1 million riders. Grab and Gojek have dominated Indonesia for years, and Euromonitor International estimates that a combined business would hold more than 91 percent of the market. That would leave less than 9 percent for all other providers combined.

Indonesia's Law No. 5/1999 on the prohibition of monopoly practices and unfair business competition gives KPPU, the national competition regulator, authority to investigate mergers that may substantially reduce competition. KPPU has signalled caution and begun internal study work.

Competition in an app market involves more than the fare displayed on a passenger's screen. Prices, the number of available drivers and waiting times change minute by minute. The regulator would likely examine how a combined company could remain under pressure to control fees and improve service.

The Indonesian Transport Workers Union, known as SPAI, opposes a Grab and GoTo merger. It warns that consolidation tends to lower driver earnings and reduce bargaining power. The union has urged KPPU to investigate and called for stronger legal protection for gig workers if the companies proceed.

A more financially stable company could invest more in safety and technology. At the same time, removing a large direct rival would weaken the competitive pressure that allows drivers, passengers and merchants to compare terms and move between platforms.

KPPU and other regulators would therefore need to consider how benefits from scale could reach users and workers. The commercial appeal of combining two networks sits alongside the risk that one network could gain too much control over the terms of participation.

What competition safeguards could involve

Competition authorities have different ways to respond if they identify harm. Structural remedies change what a company owns, for example by requiring the sale of overlapping business operations. Such a response would be difficult for a platform designed to function as a single connected network.

Behavioural remedies instead set rules for how the company operates. These are more probable options in this setting and could include limits on certain fees and rules requiring fair treatment of drivers and merchants.

Data portability would let drivers move their ratings and performance records to another app. Those records can be valuable because they show a driver's work history. Making them transferable could help drivers change platforms without leaving that history behind.

Interoperability measures would make it easier for new entrants to connect with consumers and drivers. In simple terms, they would reduce some of the barriers that separate one platform's network from another. Their usefulness would depend on the specific arrangements required.

Any conditions would need monitoring and clear penalties for breaches. A fee limit or fair treatment rule would have little practical value if workers and merchants could not raise complaints or authorities could not check whether the company was complying.

Consumer safeguards could also include transparent surge pricing formulas. Surge pricing changes fares when demand rises relative to available drivers. Clear rules would help passengers understand those changes, while dispute resolution channels could give drivers and merchants a way to challenge decisions affecting their income.

Danantara's stake raises a governance debate

Danantara is exploring a minority stake in the combined company. One version under discussion would include a golden share with veto rights over strategic decisions, potentially covering major asset sales, changes to national governance or data policy, and moving the headquarters of the Indonesian business.

Such an arrangement would preserve a state voice inside a platform handling transport, payments and logistics in the country's largest cities. It reflects a wider tension for governments seeking both strong digital businesses and safeguards for consumers and workers.

Nailul Huda, an economist, questions why the government should back or broker a private corporate transaction. He argues that state ownership could discourage competitors worried about facing a business supported by public authority.

Mergers and acquisitions are normal corporate actions, which the government does not have to endorse.

A minority state stake could keep some profits in Indonesia and give officials a seat at the table. Consumer prices and driver earnings would still depend on the conditions attached to approval and the consistency of enforcement.

The debate also concerns the government's two potential roles: investor and regulator. Combining industrial strategy with competition policy can give the state influence over a strategic business, while weakening the discipline that comes from rival companies competing for customers and workers.

Why the companies could want a deal

Grab is listed on Nasdaq in the United States and operates across Southeast Asia. GoTo is listed in Jakarta and was created through the combination of Gojek and Tokopedia in 2021. Both platforms want steady profitability across transport, delivery and payments.

A merger could reduce duplicate spending on marketing, mapping and dispatch systems, and customer support. Dispatch systems match customers with available drivers. Running fewer overlapping systems could save money, while ending some of the costly price competition between the companies could improve their finances.

People briefed on the talks say one option considered involved Grab raising debt to finance a transaction that could value GoTo at several billion dollars. Markets have responded to the prospect of a combination by bidding up GoTo shares and lifting Grab shares in trading before the main market opened abroad.

Combining the businesses would still require substantial work. Their apps have different code bases, ways of organising data and operating cultures. Savings on paper would have to be translated into systems that continue to handle rides, deliveries and payments reliably.

GoTo's integration of Tokopedia was uneven, and Tokopedia later moved into a new ownership structure in coordination with TikTok. That experience illustrates the difficulty of bringing together large teams with different priorities and working methods.

Overlapping administrative and support roles would face the usual pressure for staff reductions. On the driver side, the companies would need to revise incentive formulas and manage the number of available drivers in real time so that passengers and drivers did not face longer waits.

Payments would add another layer of complexity. Both companies operate wallets and process transactions for millions of merchants and consumers. A combined platform could simplify checkout and fraud controls, improving the user experience and reducing losses from scams.

Regulators would also need to consider access for smaller financial institutions and competing wallets. Decisions about how payments connect to transport and delivery services could affect businesses beyond the two platforms themselves.

Passengers and merchants face practical tradeoffs

Passengers are likely to judge any merger through everyday experience: fares, reliability during busy periods and the availability of rides late at night. Less aggressive discounting is an immediate risk when two large competing platforms become one.

A combined company might later invest more in safety, driver training and routing. Whether customers benefit would depend on the rules imposed by KPPU and sector regulators, as well as the company's decisions about how to use its savings.

Restaurants and stores depend on delivery apps for a growing share of their sales. Changes in commissions, promotions or placement inside an app can affect their margins. A business appearing less prominently may struggle to reach customers even when its prices and products stay the same.

Clear disclosure of fees and a fair appeals process could help smaller merchants that have limited bargaining power. Limits on take rates, the share of a transaction retained by a platform, could also be considered alongside rules on pricing and complaints.

Henry Pranoto, a financial analyst, sees GoTo as part of the support available to people facing job losses. He compared its role with taxi driving in Singapore.

Social assistance in Indonesia is insufficient, and GoTo is among those that merit government support. It is similar to Singapore, where people who have just lost their jobs often take up taxi driving while they wait to secure a new stable position.

Protecting that function would require attention to people who drive occasionally as well as those who depend on the apps every day. The benefits regime and the merger would affect different parts of the same livelihood: access to work, the terms of that work and the protection available when something goes wrong.

National ambition meets the power of a network

GoTo was once presented as Indonesia's signature technology success story. Its shareholder base includes foreign investors, a mix that has contributed to debate over economic sovereignty and who influences major domestic digital businesses.

Supporters of a merger argue that joining Grab would create a stronger regional player anchored in Indonesia's largest market. Critics warn that such concentration could weaken domestic rivals and leave consumers with fewer choices.

Transport and delivery apps operate as platforms with two sides, linking consumers with drivers and merchants. More customers can attract more drivers and businesses, while more drivers and businesses can attract customers. This reinforcing effect helps explain why these markets often settle around a small number of large providers.

Indonesia's challenge is to keep the market open to competition while making a dominant network accountable. A golden share could give the state influence over specific decisions. Clear rules, audits and enforcement would carry the work of checking what happens to prices, pay and service.

Quarterly monitoring of driver pay, waiting times, safety incidents and consumer prices would offer a practical way to track outcomes after any deal. Publishing those figures would allow citizens to see whether promised benefits reached workers and users and would help build confidence in oversight.

The merger discussions therefore bring together three connected choices: how to protect a workforce numbering in the millions, how to regulate a company with more than 91 percent of the ride market, and how far the state should enter a private business. The quality of the rules and their enforcement would shape the daily results.

What to Know

• As of November 14, 2025, Indonesia was steering talks on a possible Grab and GoTo merger while drafting a presidential regulation for online motorcycle taxi services.
• Several ministries and Danantara are involved. Officials say their priorities include driver welfare, fair treatment and a healthy industry.
• Roughly seven million people are estimated to rely on online transport and delivery platforms for income in Indonesia.
• Affan Kurniawan, aged 21, was struck by a police tactical vehicle in Jakarta on August 28. Subsequent unrest spread to 32 of 38 provinces, leaving 10 people dead and at least 5,000 arrested.
• Gojek says it works with more than 3.1 million riders. Euromonitor International estimates a combined platform would hold more than 91 percent of Indonesia's ride market.
• KPPU has signalled caution and begun internal study work. SPAI opposes the merger and seeks stronger protection for gig workers.
• Proposed benefits for active drivers could include health insurance. Activity requirements could reduce access to benefits for occasional drivers and shrink the driver pool.
• Danantara is exploring a minority stake, potentially with a golden share giving veto rights over specified strategic decisions.
• A merger could cut duplicate costs and improve financial stability, while creating risks around discounts, driver earnings, merchant fees and staff reductions.
• Potential safeguards include fee limits, transparent pricing, transferable driver records, fair complaint procedures and regular public monitoring.