Antimonopoly watchdog has hard task: Didik

Antimonopoly watchdog has hard task: Didik

JAKARTA (JP): The newly-established anti-monopoly watchdog was
facing a grave task of setting up sound business environment in
the country given the fact that monopoly and other unsound
business practices have been deeply rooted here, members of the
watchdog said.

"Monopoly and other unsound business practices have been here
for decades. Business people conduct their businesses using the
laws of the jungle... while the government has done very little
to stop it," Didik Rachbini, one of the so-called Business
Competition Control Commission (KPPU), told The Jakarta Post
Saturday.

Didik also noted that the Commission might lack support from
the government and the public in doing their job.

"So far, the government has been focusing on basic problems
like unemployment and poverty eradication. Things like unfair
business competition is only a secondary matter, not a major
concern to government or public," he said.

President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a decree on June 7 on the
establishment of the KPPU and the appointment of eleven members
of the commission.

The formation of the commission is based on the Antimonopoly
and Unfair Competition Law No. 5/1999.

The commission has the rights to investigate inappropriate
businesses who were suspected of doing unfair business practices
and imposing sanctions on them.

The President will officially swear in eleven appointed
commission members as soon as he returned from his overseas trip
this week.

The eleven KPPU members are economists Pande Radja Silalahi,
Didik Rachbini and Faisal Basri, businessman Soy Pardede, Bambang
Purnomo Adiwiyoto, former government official Nabiel Makarim,
former members of the House of Representatives Tadjuddin Noersaid
Said and Erwin Syahril, member of political party Syamsul Muarif,
member of cooperatives Moch. Iqbal and government official
Sutrisno Purnomo. They will serve on a five-year term.

Major business players seem to welcome the presence of KPPU,
said commission member Soy Pardede, who is also an executive of
the Indonesian Chambers of Trade and Commerce.

"Somehow, many business players are expecting KPPU's works
will help create a better, fairer business opportunity," he said
over the weekend.

Some major companies have asked the KPPU to assess whether
their businesses were against the provisions of the Antimonopoly
and Unfair Competition law, Soy said, declining to name the
firms.

KPPU is formed to control the implementation of provisions in
the Antimonopoly and Unfair Competition Law, which was passed by
the House of Representatives in February last year and ratified
by then President B.J. Habibie a month later.

The law is the country's first legislation that directly deals
with monopolies and other unfair business practices.

The law prohibits, among others, an individual company from
controlling more than 50 percent of the domestic market, and two
or three companies from controlling a combined 75 percent of the
market. Market share is determined by sales value rather than
volume.

Under the law, which will be effective in September, the
independent KPPU has the authority to monitor business agreements
and activities in the country.

Soy said KPPU was also authorized to question entrepreneurs
over alleged improper business conducts and impose administration
sanctions on them or their companies if found guilty of
practicing monopoly and other unfair business operations.

"We can ban a person from holding a position in a company for
up to five years. We can also order a company to void a merger if
we found the deal was leading the firm into monopoly," he said,
adding that foreign business entities are also liable to KPPU's
investigation.

According to the law, individuals or companies found guilty of
violating the law will face fines of between Rp 1 billion
(US$125,000) and Rp 100 billion and/or jail terms of between
three and six months. (cst)