Controversy over Expiring Data Quotas: Experts Highlight Consumer Rights and Service Governance
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The controversy over “expiring internet quotas” that has resurfaced in hearings at the Constitutional Court (MK) is seen not merely as an issue of data package validity periods, but as concerning the overall governance of telecommunications services.
Telecommunications expert M. Ridwan Effendi views the issue currently being examined in this case as closely related to how prepaid internet services are designed and managed, including aspects of transparency and certainty for users.
“If this issue is read solely as ‘expiring quotas vs consumers’, the discussion quickly reaches a deadlock. What is actually being tested is broader: service governance, including transparency, certainty, and a sense of fairness in the design of prepaid internet services,” said this Associate Professor at STEI ITB, in his statement quoted on Friday (24/4/2026).
“We need to acknowledge that there are valid consumer concerns. Customers pay, then feel the benefits stop before being optimal. The challenge is how to improve governance so that customers understand from the start, without sacrificing service quality for the wider public,” he said.
In the hearings, MK judges also highlighted the importance of consumer protection through transparent and fair service mechanisms. This is crucial because the internet has now become a basic need for society, from economic activities to public services.
Ridwan added that global practices show operators generally combine time-limited packages with flexibility options such as rollover or packages without expiry dates. This means there is policy space to design more adaptive services.
In some telecommunications markets, prepaid data packages with specific validity periods are common practices. In the Philippines, for example, several Globe prepaid data packages are offered with validity periods of 7 days or 15 days.
In Malaysia, CelcomDigi also markets prepaid passes with a 30-day validity as a common cycle for monthly packages. Meanwhile, in Thailand, DTAC offers prepaid add-on internet packages varying from 1 to 30 days, showing that time limitations remain a widely used approach to manage service options.
On the other hand, some operators also provide rollover/stacking options, usually as additional features with certain conditions. For example, in Singapore, SingTel Prepaid states that customers can roll over and accumulate (stack) unused data (including roaming data and IDD) for up to 6 months, so residual benefits do not immediately expire as long as customers meet the specified requirements.
In addition to rollover, there is also a “no expiry date” approach as a product variant; in the Philippines, Smart offers the Magic Data package, which is explicitly marketed as no-expiry data (does not expire until fully used).
This variety of practices shows that globally, operators generally combine time-limited packages as standard with flexibility options (rollover/stacking or no-expiry) for certain segments. Therefore, the most relevant policy discussion is not merely “whether or not there is a validity period”, but how those choices are presented clearly, easily understood, and consistently so that customers can select the scheme that best suits their needs.
In the context of regulation in Indonesia, prepaid internet services are understood as telecommunications services provided through networks. The basic framework is regulated in Government Regulation No. 52 of 2000 on Telecommunications Operations, which was then adjusted and updated through Government Regulation No. 46 of 2021 on Posts, Telecommunications, and Broadcasting.
This PP is important to note because it is explicitly established to implement the provisions of Article 70, Article 71, and Article 72 of the Job Creation Law, so it can be understood as an implementing regulation (PP level) that derives/elaborates the norms of Article 71 of the Job Creation Law, including changes related to service/tariff governance connected to Article 28 of the Telecommunications Law.
In line with that, PP 46/2021 also streamlines previous regulations by revoking several articles in PP 52/2000 (including parts related to certain regulations), so the telecommunications operations framework becomes more relevant to the current ecosystem.
At the operational level, these principles are then summarised and become the main reference through Ministry of Communication and Informatics Regulation No. 5 of 2021 on Telecommunications Operations, which explicitly bases its legal foundation on PP 52/2000 and PP 46/2021, while affirming that aspects such as service validity periods, information transparency, and service feature choices fall under service governance, not merely commercial issues.
“Global practices are diverse. Some have strict validity periods, others provide rollover options with certain conditions. The policy and product design space exists in Indonesia. It just needs to be made as transparent and fair as possible,” he explained.
On the other hand, operator representatives in the hearing stated that internet services are access services to the network for a certain period, not goods that can be used without time limits. Therefore, the end of the validity period is seen as part of the service terms agreed upon from the start.
The difference in perspectives between consumers and operators, according to Ridwan, further emphasises the importance of improving product communication governance to avoid gaps in understanding.
“The key is not finding who is most right, but looking at the best solution: certainty for users, information transparency, and proportional service mechanisms,” he said.