Smell test for stinky drivers with new Indonesian app

In many places, jumping on the back of a motorcycle taxi is a great way to get around the city quickly and travel like a local – but perhaps not at the expense of saddling up behind a stinky driver.

A new motorbike ride-hailing app in Indonesia will require drivers not to smell. Image by Phil Whitehouse

A new ride-hailing app in Jakarta, Indonesia, is setting itself apart from the crowd by making sure all of its drivers can pass a body odour test, according to the Bangkok Post. However, it’s not separating itself too much from the most popular app of its kind – the new app is called UberJek, despite having no relation to the well-known US-based Uber.

According to media reports, there will be a smell test to ensure drivers have a satisfactory odour – but how that will be enforced during long days of driving in the sun is unclear.

Apps to hail a motorbike taxi – or ojek – in Jakarta already exist and are quite controversial. There are reports that drivers for Go-Jek, a similar ride-hailing app, have been attacked by traditional ojek drivers due to the competition, reports Tech in Asia.

UberJek is set to launch in 2016.

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