Consumer protection law gets the runaround

JAKARTA (JP): The adage that the customer is king or queen still does not apply in Indonesia.

One day, your flight may be delayed or rerouted and you arrive hours later than scheduled. The next day, your bank arbitrarily imposes additional service charges. Then your electricity and telephone lines are cut but there is no notice from the service providers.

Angry and set to make a claim? Go ahead, but do not hope for the complaint to be handled seriously.

Buyer beware may be most appropriate to describe the murky area of consumer rights, or the lack of them, in this country. Indonesian consumers have no legitimate recourse to protest inferior quality goods or services, but find themselves at the mercy of what the government or businesses choose to provide.

So weak is the position of local consumers that the Indonesian Consumers Organization (YLKI) has been campaigning for a law on consumer protection for the past 17 years.

Tini Hadad, chairwoman of the organization, told The Jakarta Post during the organization's celebration of its 24th anniversary Wednesday that the government still did not pay serious attention to the issue.

"I don't know why we have had to wait for such a long time for a law which will do good for most people," complained Tini.

Tini maintained that protection of consumer rights was actually a manifestation of the country's democratic system.

Indonesia lags behind neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand on giving consumers recourse to complain. Malaysia has its own ministry to deal with consumer issues.

"People will have more legal protection against any irregularities committed by businessmen and other agencies which provide public services," Tini said.

But the road to the establishment of definitive legal backing for the rights of consumers seems to be paved with potholes.

The organization sent a draft on the consumer protection law as far back as l980 to the National Law Supervising Agency (BPHN). In l992, the agency, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the University of Indonesia revised the draft.

The new draft focuses most of its attention on information campaigns aimed at improving the business community's awareness of their obligations to consumers.

The draft law regulates issues including quality of goods, expiration date periods and the rights of consumers.

Nastiti, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the draft had been submitted to the State Secretariat last year and was currently under discussion.

"I cannot say that the State Secretariat has made its overview of the draft. I believe there are many more major issues which were given priority," Nastiti said.

Zumrotin K. Soesilo, consumer activist and former chairperson of YLKI, was skeptical of the government's will in following through with the law.

"I wonder how the bill on nuclear power, which could possibly have negative effects on the society, was easily ratified by the House in a very short time," Zumrotin said.

Many perceive the government as irresponsive to consumer demands, leaving them vulnerable to abuse or exploitation by manufacturers and sellers.

The lack of legal basis for consumer protection is the main constraint in handling their complaints, explained Zumrotin.

"Our legal standing would be stronger if a law on consumers was passed," she said. She added that it was particularly necessary in to protect consumers against the flood of international goods and services in the global market era.

Zumrotin explained the main causes of the poor position of consumers here were the prevalence of monopolies and oligopolies dominating the business world.

She dismissed arguments that strong legal protection of consumers would stunt the growth of the business sector. Companies would not go bankrupt if the law on consumer protection was in effect, she said, as the business sector here was now "mature enough" and did not need too much protection.

Disparity

The disparity between the government's continuing protection of the business sector compared to its comparative neglect of the rights of consumers goes some way to explaining why the law remains on the back burner.

YLKI has attempted high-level lobbying to press the House of Representative and involved government agencies to take action.

The organization received a tepid response from the House. Several House members had earlier agreed with the organization's assertion that the law to provide consumers with legal protection was urgently needed. But the legislators stopped short of pushing the government to immediately finish drafting the bill on consumer protection and submit it to the House for approval.

According to Marzuki Darusman, a member of the Human Rights Commission, the House members should focus more on issues that would influence people.

"They can actually use their Initiative Rights to put the law into effect," Marzuki said recently.

A member of the House countered that the House had a lack of experts and funds to carry out research and draft the long- awaited bill. The most they could do was to press the government to immediately submit the draft.

Luhut Pangaribuan, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Institute, explained that at present it was executive power which made a law, not the legislature.

"We are now in a time when a law is made by the government instead of the House of Representative which has legislative authority," he said.

All legislative bills in the last 25 years had been initiated by the government, prompting criticism that the House of representative was merely a "rubber stamp agency," Luhut said.

He also said the few bills proposed by individuals or house factions had failed to secure enough support from the legislature or the government to see them passed.

"I am still doubtful whether the government is willing to submit the law to the House in the near future," Luhut said. "It may take years for the consumers to get their rights." (raw/05/11)