Anticipate Congestion, The Government Is ASKed To Prioritize Electric Bus Subsidies

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government is still working on regulations regarding the provision of incentives for the purchase of electric cars or motorcycles in Indonesia.

Recently, the Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the government plans to also provide incentives for the purchase of electric buses.

Responding to this, Economist and Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) Bhima Yudhistira said the government should prioritize incentive rules for buying electric buses.

This is because electric buses are public vehicles, which can transport many people in them, in order to anticipate congestion in the future.

"The government seems to be experiencing confusion, because what should be pushed for conversion is public transportation, while the sale of motorized vehicles is limited," Bhima said when contacted by VOI, Thursday, December 29.

"If the electric bus is encouraged, while the electric vehicle is subsidized, the road will get jammed. The optimal thing is to encourage the transition to public transportation facilities," he continued.

In addition, said Bhima, if the government prioritizes the provision of subsidies for the purchase of electric buses, later the upper middle class will limit the purchase of electric vehicles.

So that concerns about congestion like in big cities can be anticipated.

"I'm worried that the upper middle class will increase the number of new vehicles. Now, there are a total of 150 million vehicles, later (purchase of electric vehicles) can trigger new problems," he added.

Previously, the Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the government would provide incentives for the purchase of electric buses to support the national electric vehicle ecosystem.

"The electric bus will definitely get incentives, because this is a public vehicle that of course also concerns us," Agus said at the 2022 End of Year Press talks and the 2023 Industrial Outlook Seminar in Jakarta, Tuesday, December 27.

Even so, Agus said, the government has not clearly explained the amount of incentives for electric buses, including the scheme for providing subsidies for these vehicles.

However, as an illustration, the Minister of Industry said the average purchase price of one electric bus was around IDR 1.3 billion.