Deputy Interior Minister's Remarks on Government Agencies Still Requiring e-KTP Photocopies

Deputy Interior Minister Bima Arya Sugiarto stated that the use of chips on electronic resident identity cards, or e-KTPs, has not yet been maximised due to limitations in supporting devices across various agencies. Bima explained that utilising the technology in e-KTPs requires scanners that are not yet evenly available in government institutions and other authorities. As a result, even though e-KTPs are equipped with chips, the public is still frequently asked to submit photocopies of the documents. “Not all agencies have sophisticated electronic devices for scanning. Not all authorities have regulations governing that either. So even though there is a chip, it cannot be scanned and they end up asking for photocopies,” he said at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday, 27 April 2026. He assessed that this situation indicates that the implementation of digitalisation in population administration has not yet run optimally. According to him, policy interventions are needed so that all related agencies prepare supporting infrastructure. Bima mentioned that the government needs to draft regulations that encourage—or even compel—agencies to provide technology devices for reading e-KTP chips. This way, digital population identities, including the Digital Population Identity (IKD), can function maximally. In addition, he added that as long as e-KTP usage has not fully reached the entire population, the physical KTP will still be retained as a companion. “As long as it is not 100 percent used by citizens, the e-KTP will still be accompanied by the physical KTP,” he said. He further noted that every day there are tens of thousands of reports of lost KTPs that must be followed up with reprints. “For us, this is certainly a not insignificant budget allocation. That money in billions of rupiah could ideally be used for things that are more felt by the public,” he said. The government is pushing for increased public responsibility in using KTPs. One proposal under consideration is imposing fees for the second KTP reprint as education for citizens. However, he emphasised that this policy is still just a proposal and will be discussed further. The issue of citizens still using KTP photocopies in population administration matters was discussed during a working meeting of Commission II of the DPR with the Ministry of Home Affairs at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday, 20 April 2026. At that time, the DPR asked how KTPs that already have a digital system still use manual systems or photocopies in their application.