Deputy Interior Minister Clarifies Lost ID Cards Do Not Incur Fines, But Printing Costs
Deputy Interior Minister (Wamendagri) Bima Arya has clarified the issue regarding fines for citizens who lose their e-KTP. Bima Arya emphasised that what is meant is not a fine, but the cost for reprinting the ID card.
The proposal arose during a working meeting of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR) with the Ministry of Home Affairs at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (20/4/2026). Bima stated that the policy needs to be considered so that the public takes responsibility for maintaining population documents.
“There are many citizens who are not very responsible in using or maintaining their KTP and other population identity documents. So they lose them easily and so on, and if they want to get a new one, it’s free,” Bima said during the working meeting.
Bima Arya said that the high number of lost population documents burdens the state budget. He mentioned that in one day, reports of lost KTPs can reach tens of thousands of cases.
“So we need to think about making citizens more responsible by requiring them to pay the full cost, a fine or something like that. Because every day, how many reports of losses are there, Mr Teguh (Director General of Dukcapil)? Tens of thousands. Tens of thousands, because it’s free. So this is also a cost centre here,” he said.
When contacted separately, Bima Arya explained that the government is not burdening the public with blame. He said the proposal is for the cost of reprinting e-KTPs.
“The problem, what was criticised, is the word ‘fine’, right? Fine. Actually, what is meant is the cost of a new print. So the first one is free, but for a new print, a fee is charged, something like that. The cost of a new print,” Bima Arya said when contacted on Thursday (23/4/2026).
Bima Arya explained the government’s efforts to promote the use of Digital Population Identity (IKD). However, he said its implementation still faces several challenges, from infrastructure to institutional readiness.
“So now, the IKD percentage is still small, the percentage. So many are still using KTP photocopies and so on. Many are still printing KTPs and so on. Why is IKD still like this?” he said.
“We need to strengthen the network, strengthen bandwidth, strengthen capacity, strengthen security. And that requires money and process. That’s one. So why go back to KTP photocopies? It’s not like that. This IKD, one identity, this needs budgeting. So it needs a process,” he continued.
In addition, he said another challenge is that not all institutions have the same policies and electronic capabilities for scanning. Therefore, KTP photocopies are still needed.
“Because of that, a process is needed to continuously integrate those policies. So gradually, for example, the authority, what budget is added, capacity is added, and then agreement is reached by all institutions and agencies that everyone must have a card reader,” he explained.
“Well, not everyone has a card reader. Everyone must have a card reader, everyone must have the right technology, that’s where there will be no more KTP photocopies, no more KTP blanks,” he added.
Furthermore, he explained the proposal for reprinting costs for KTPs. He said budgets in the regions are very limited.
“I have received reports that the number of citizens reprinting because their KTP is lost is very high. Whereas the cost to print it is Rp10,000. So if, for example, there are 1.5 million citizens who lost it across Indonesia, at least Rp15 billion will be spent on that. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry’s budget is also limited,” he revealed.
According to him, this policy emerges as an effort to encourage the public to be more responsible in safeguarding population documents. However, he said there is no certainty yet regarding the amount of the cost.
“So that citizens are responsible. So the idea emerged, well, if it’s for the second print, there will be a cost. How much is the cost? Not yet, not decided, this is just a proposal,” he said.