Now, online merchants need permits if they want to do business in Indonesia. (Image via Merdeka.com)

Online merchants need permit: Jokowi

Through the Government Regulation (PP) no. 80 of 2019 regarding trade activities via electronic system (PMSE) signed on 20 November and ran into effect on 25 November, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, generally known as Jokowi, requires all online merchants to possess a business permit.

The parties who are not directly profited nor involved in any contractual relations are exempted. The regulation is said to apply for both domestic and foreign online merchants.

In the PP, Jokowi also requires online merchants to secure their customers’ rights for their safety and convenience, especially their personal data. Therefore, Jokowi, in Article 18, instructed the customers to immediately report if they encounter any problem with any online merchant.

If an online merchant is caught in a problem, the Indonesian government will give it a written warning. Next, if the problem persists, the online merchant will be put to the supervision list. The worst, they will be put into the blacklist. Moreover, the Indonesian government also has the authority to order related instances to temporarily block domestic and foreign PMSEs services.

In Article 21, the PP also demands the online merchants to regularly report to the Indonesian government. The matter is yet to be disclosed further. Besides, Article 25 of the PP also requires online merchants to save the records of financial and non-financial transactions at least 10 years after the records were obtained.

Source: https://bit.ly/33RXNMd