So, you have started buying products online. But what if something goes wrong?
As more Indonesians shift to online shopping, little do they realize that they are less protected than if they were buying item off the shelves.
The current law on consumer protection was enacted in 1999, long before online shopping became fashionable. But with the e-commerce sector estimated to earn US$7 billion a year, and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo pushing to make Indonesia Southeast Asia's biggest digital economy by 2020, there is an urgent need for the government to update the law.
Indonesia ranks sixth among the world's largest e-commerce markets, after China, th United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. Outdated consumer protection laws are a problem in almost every country.
According to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report released in April 2017, said nations need to come up with laws that strenthen consumer protection in e-commerce without killing innovation and market competition.
Egi Primayogha, a researcher for a non-governmental organization in Jakarta, admits he has had several unpleasant online shopping experiences, but none were worse than when he was sent a laptop that did not match the specs of the one he had ordered.
Two weeks went by before both the vendor and the e-commerce portal responded to his complaint, and even then, they only promised to return his money.
"I wasted time and energy," Egi said.
Natalia Angeline, 23, a graphic designer based in Tangerang, Banten, experienced a similiar disappointment when she bought a book from a local e-commerce platform as a present for a friend.
The vendor promised to wrap the book to withstand damages, but when it arrived, Natalia opened the package to find the cover of the book torn up.
She called the website's customer service only to receive an unfriendly response.
"So, I wrote a review on their website," Natalia said. "Honestly, I'm still a beginner as I just tried online shopping this year."
The UNCTAD report calls for national policies that encourage good practices "applicable to e-commerce in areas including information disclosure, contract terms, secure paymentnmechanisms, consumer privacy and data security, and dispute resolution and redress."
Almost a third of the 301 complaints received by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (Y
kI) in 2017 came from online transactions. Most were about consumers' data and banking security, fraudulent goods, and shipment and payment refunds, YLKI law and complaint coordinator Sularsi told The Jakarta Post.
None of the cases were brought before the court, she added.
However, it is not as if consumers have no legal resource; there is the 1999 Consumer Protection Law and the Cyber Law, which was just amended in 2017, she said.
But Sularsi feels that consumers are still at a disadvantage because these laws were designed more to shield businesses and industries from responsibility. Moreover, Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) should also be brought into the law, given the growth of digital payment mechanisms.
There are, however, other barriers that Indonesia needs to overcome and that are more cultural in nature, namely awareness of consumer rights and the reluctance to complain.
The National Consumers Protection Agency (BPKN), an independent but state-funded institution, says that not enough Indonesians are complaining whenever they find themselves at the wrong end of a transaction, whether offline or online.
Consumer awareness scored a mere 31 percent in 2016, according to a survey by the BPKN, which is campaigning to make Indonesians smarter buyers.
In its year-end statement, the BPKN criticized the government for not taking consumer protection more seriously and is now pushing for an amendment to the 1999 law, incorporating the growth of e-commerce.
"E-commerce companies should improve their integrity and honesty as it (e-commerce) is a business based on trust," said BPKN deputy chairman Rolas Sitinjak.
sha/The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
As more Indonesians shift to online shopping, little do they realize that they are less protected than if they were buying item off the shelves.
The current law on consumer protection was enacted in 1999, long before online shopping became fashionable. But with the e-commerce sector estimated to earn US$7 billion a year, and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo pushing to make Indonesia Southeast Asia's biggest digital economy by 2020, there is an urgent need for the government to update the law.
Indonesia ranks sixth among the world's largest e-commerce markets, after China, th United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. Outdated consumer protection laws are a problem in almost every country.
According to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report released in April 2017, said nations need to come up with laws that strenthen consumer protection in e-commerce without killing innovation and market competition.
Egi Primayogha, a researcher for a non-governmental organization in Jakarta, admits he has had several unpleasant online shopping experiences, but none were worse than when he was sent a laptop that did not match the specs of the one he had ordered.
Two weeks went by before both the vendor and the e-commerce portal responded to his complaint, and even then, they only promised to return his money.
"I wasted time and energy," Egi said.
Natalia Angeline, 23, a graphic designer based in Tangerang, Banten, experienced a similiar disappointment when she bought a book from a local e-commerce platform as a present for a friend.
The vendor promised to wrap the book to withstand damages, but when it arrived, Natalia opened the package to find the cover of the book torn up.
She called the website's customer service only to receive an unfriendly response.
"So, I wrote a review on their website," Natalia said. "Honestly, I'm still a beginner as I just tried online shopping this year."
The UNCTAD report calls for national policies that encourage good practices "applicable to e-commerce in areas including information disclosure, contract terms, secure paymentnmechanisms, consumer privacy and data security, and dispute resolution and redress."
Almost a third of the 301 complaints received by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (Y
kI) in 2017 came from online transactions. Most were about consumers' data and banking security, fraudulent goods, and shipment and payment refunds, YLKI law and complaint coordinator Sularsi told The Jakarta Post.
None of the cases were brought before the court, she added.
However, it is not as if consumers have no legal resource; there is the 1999 Consumer Protection Law and the Cyber Law, which was just amended in 2017, she said.
But Sularsi feels that consumers are still at a disadvantage because these laws were designed more to shield businesses and industries from responsibility. Moreover, Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) should also be brought into the law, given the growth of digital payment mechanisms.
There are, however, other barriers that Indonesia needs to overcome and that are more cultural in nature, namely awareness of consumer rights and the reluctance to complain.
The National Consumers Protection Agency (BPKN), an independent but state-funded institution, says that not enough Indonesians are complaining whenever they find themselves at the wrong end of a transaction, whether offline or online.
Consumer awareness scored a mere 31 percent in 2016, according to a survey by the BPKN, which is campaigning to make Indonesians smarter buyers.
In its year-end statement, the BPKN criticized the government for not taking consumer protection more seriously and is now pushing for an amendment to the 1999 law, incorporating the growth of e-commerce.
"E-commerce companies should improve their integrity and honesty as it (e-commerce) is a business based on trust," said BPKN deputy chairman Rolas Sitinjak.
sha/The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
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