Court finds for LPG consumers in class action

Court finds for LPG consumers in class action

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Jakarta District Court ruled
on Tuesday in favor of a class action filed by Kapak LPG against
the state-run oil company Pertamina for arbitrarily raising the
price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) last November.

The court found that Pertamina and its government-appointed
Board of Commissioners had acted unlawfully in increasing the
price of liquefied gas without first fully informing LPG
consumers about the hike.

The class action suit was first filed in February by the Kapak
LPG, a coalition of 20 lawyers from the Indonesian Consumers'
Foundation (YLKI), the Jakarta chapter of the Legal Aid
Institute, the Indonesian Law Association, the Indonesian Legal
Aid Center, and the Indonesian Center for Environment Law.

The court's verdict, which was read out by presiding judge Ali
Akmal Haki, ordered Pertamina to revoke last November's decision
to raise LPG price by 40 percent from Rp 1,500 (15 US cents) to
Rp 2,100 per kilogram.

Pertamina was also required to compensate class members to the
tune of Rp 144,000 ($14.18) per month in material loses, and pay
Rp 16,000 ($1.57) to every person who could prove they were LPG
consumers in Greater Jakarta.

The class members consisted of nine persons representing LPG
consumers in Greater Jakarta. They were Waskito Adi Riwibowo from
Central Jakarta, Wigali Ningsih from East Jakarta, Marharinche
Manik from West Jakarta, Sukarni from North Jakarta, Riswati from
South Jakarta, Sri Lisnawati from Tangerang, Waris from Bogor,
Listiati from Depok, and Thamrin B.W. from Bekasi.

According to YLKI data, there are about 200,000 LPG consumers
in the greater Jakarta area.

However, the court's decision will not to be executed
immediately as Pertamina is to file for an appeal.

"We're lodging an appeal ... nowhere is it stated in the law
that a business has to familiarize its plans to the public before
putting them into effect," said Linawati Djaja for Pertamina.

Indah Suksmaningsih, the chief of operations of the YLKI, told
reporters that Pertamina's argument was weak and unacceptable.
"The liquefied petroleum gas is consumed by the public. It should
not make any drastic decisions which affect the public interest,"
Indah commented.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of the legal representatives from
Kapak LPG hailed the court decision, saying that Tuesday's
verdict represented a landmark following the enactment of the
Consumer Protection Law, which came into effect in April last
year.

"This is truly a milestone as regards the implementation of
the Consumer Protection Law. We hope it will bring about more
progress on consumers' rights," lawyer Mohammad Ihsan told The
Jakarta Post.

The LPG case is the first class action to have been won by
consumers since Law No.8/1999 on consumer protection came into
effect.