Reporting a stolen car 'costly'<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Having a car stolen is a bad experience for most people, but
\nreporting it to the police is almost as bad.<\/p>\n
Hartono, 40, reported the theft of his car in November to the
\npolice. His car had been stolen the night before from the garage
\nat his house in West Jakarta. A police report is required in
\norder to claim on the loss from an insurance company.<\/p>\n
"The police officers on duty asked me to pay Rp 5 million
\n(US$555) to get the paperwork done quickly. Otherwise, I would
\nhave to go through all the procedures, which could take two
\nmonths to complete," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Some haggling followed, and Hartono and the police agreed on
\nRp 2.8 million.<\/p>\n
And the paperwork has still not been completed.<\/p>\n
Farid has a different story. He decided to go through all the
\nset procedures following the theft of his Toyota Kijang minivan
\nin September.<\/p>\n
It took him two months of traipsing backwards and forwards to
\nthe Jakarta Police Headquarters, plus Rp 1.5 million, just to get
\ntwo official letters: the loss report and an order to freeze the
\ncar registration number.<\/p>\n
"I paid less than most people as a friend of mine knows some
\nof the officers there, so they were kind enough to give me a
\ndiscount," Farid said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Police Watch executive Rashid Lubis acknowledged
\nthat the non-governmental organization often received complaints
\nabout illicit charges for police services that were supposed to
\nbe free.<\/p>\n
"The 'fee' for a motorcycle is usually between Rp 500,000 and
\nRp 1 million, just for the paperwork," he said.<\/p>\n
For cars, he added, the police normally asked for at least Rp
\n5 million. "It could be higher if the stolen car is an expensive
\none."<\/p>\n
This is just for a loss report from the criminal investigation
\ndepartment, he said.<\/p>\n
"Having the registration number frozen by the traffic police
\nalso costs money," Lubis said. "If you ask the police to really
\ntry to find your stolen vehicle, they will usually ask for more
\nmoney."<\/p>\n
If an autotheft victim is lucky enough, he might actually get
\nhis vehicle back. At a price, of course.<\/p>\n
"Usually, the price is about 25 percent of the value of the
\nstolen car. For example, if your car is valued at Rp 100 million,
\nthe police will ask you for Rp 25 million to get the car back,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The police often say that the money is necessary to cover the
\ncosts of the investigation and administration, he added.<\/p>\n
But actually, Rashid explained, the money was simply another
\nsource of extra income for the police.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono dismissed the
\nallegation, saying that the police never demanded bribes from
\nautotheft victims.<\/p>\n
"If there are any police officers who do that, please report
\nthem to the police's internal affairs unit so we can question
\nthem," he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reporting-a-stolen-car-costly-1447893297",
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