Constitutional Court Rules Internet Quota Cannot Expire, Operators Must Offer Consumers Choice

The Constitutional Court (MK) has affirmed that telecommunications operators can no longer allow customers’ remaining quota to simply expire without providing consumer protection options. This was emphasised in the judicial review ruling on Law Number 6 of 2023 concerning Job Creation related to internet quota policy. Through Ruling Number 219/PUU-XXIV/2026, the Court declared that Article 28 paragraph (1) in Article 71 point 2 of the Job Creation Law appendix is conditionally contrary to the 1945 Constitution. “Granting the petitioners’ request in part,” said Chief Justice Suhartoyo while reading the verdict at the MK Building, Jakarta, Thursday (23/7). The MK then stated that the norm in the article remains constitutional as long as it is interpreted that the setting of telecommunications service tariffs must be accompanied by an obligation for operators to provide service choices that guarantee customers’ remaining quota remains active and can be used. In its legal considerations, Constitutional Justice Adies Kadir explained that the main issue in this case is not merely whether internet quota constitutes a good, but whether consumers have rights to the economic benefits of the service they have paid for. According to the Court, once a customer pays for a data package, the internet quota obtained cannot be viewed merely as a service facility, but has become intangible property with ownership rights attached to the user. “Because internet quota can only be obtained after the telecommunications service user pays a sum of money belonging to the user, the internet quota in question must be positioned as intangible property in which ownership rights are inherent,” Adies stated. The Court assessed that such ownership rights receive constitutional protection as stipulated in Article 28H paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, which guarantees that private property rights shall not be taken arbitrarily. The Court further stated that if the benefits of the service simply expire without adequate information, without service choices, or without proportional protection mechanisms, this not only eliminates the economic value belonging to the consumer but also creates legal uncertainty.