City Council halts free ID card scheme

City Council halts free ID card scheme

JAKARTA (JP): The city council called on the administration on
Monday to monitor the potential abuse of the free identity card
renewal scheme. The scheme was initially planned to come into
effect as of Nov. 1 but was delayed pending the approval of the
Council.

The council is withholding its approval until the amendment of
city bylaws on population administration and fees takes place.

Councillors also said the free ID card policy would not be
made effective as long as people are still burdened with illegal
fees demanded by officials at the subdistrict levels and by other
neighborhood authorities.

"It isn't about the amount of money which will be abolished,
but the fact that it isn't done properly," said councillor Jannes
Pardosi from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan).

He said officials should adjust to the new regulation and
accept the fact that they can not earn money from issuing IDs.

Head of the City Population Agency Syahril Lumban Toruan said
the policy of free renewal of identity cards would be a test case
on whether illegal fees can be eradicated once public services
related to personal documents were free.

But he said the problem included the fact that the public may
not know that the services are free given their tendency to
involve third parties in the issuance of identity cards.

In line with Governor Sutiyoso's pledge in his accountability
speech to improve public services, the city administration also
planned to extend the validity period of the identity cards from
the current three years to five years.

Syahril said Jakartans who are Indonesian citizens are
required to pay Rp 1,000 for their identity cards while
foreigners acquiring Indonesian citizenship must pay Rp 3,000 for
their identity cards.

The identity cards should then be issued in seven days,
compared to the earlier two-week period, once all requirements
including notices from neighborhood authorities are met.

Those who fail to renew their cards within a two-week period
after expiry must pay a fine of Rp 10,000.

"We also plan to send birthday greeting letters to residents,
which would remind them to renew their cards at the subdistricts'
offices," Syahril added.

He also called on Jakartans to avoid using third parties to
arrange their identity cards in order to avoid any
misunderstanding of the regulations, as reflected in complaints
over much higher fees than the official Rp 1,000 in acquiring
IDs. Illegal fees can range from Rp 2,000 to Rp 10,000.

Syahril promised to monitor the process of obtaining identity
cards to prevent any abuse of the system.

The city administration receives Rp 1.75 billion (US$203,000)
annually from Jakartans renewing their identity cards, which is
only about 1.5 percent of the total revenue of the capital.

Jakarta now has an estimated population of some 9.7 million
but Syahril could not specify how many were without identity
cards. (07)