E-commerce Commission to be Regulated: 4 Key Points in New MSME Minister's Regulation

The Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is currently preparing a ministerial regulation for small businesses operating on e-commerce platforms. The regulation has completed the harmonisation process and is now awaiting approval from the State Secretariat for official promulgation.

The Minister of MSMEs, Maman Abdurrahman, explained that the regulation, titled the ‘Regulation for the Protection and Enhancement of Competitiveness’, consists of four key points.

First, the regulation aims to standardise cost components, specifically registration fees, service fees, and promotion fees. Currently, different marketplaces apply varying cost structures, leading to confusion regarding the various levies imposed on sellers. “We want to standardise these; there are essentially only three components: registration fees, service fees, and promotion fees,” Maman stated at the DPR RI complex on Monday.

Second, the regulation introduces incentives for micro and small enterprises selling on marketplaces, recognising that these businesses cannot compete on equal footing with medium or large-scale enterprises. One proposed incentive is a mandatory 50% discount on service fees, though promotion costs remain more complex due to varying marketplace packages.

Third, incentives will be restricted to businesses integrated into the SAPA UMKM system, which will be linked directly to the marketplace ecosystem.

Finally, the regulation seeks to prevent marketplaces from arbitrarily increasing service fees. The policy proposes a contract between marketplaces and sellers to freeze fees for a one-year period. Should any increase or revision to fees be necessary, marketplaces must provide three months’ prior notice to allow small business owners sufficient time to prepare. “The fourth point is that if a marketplace wishes to increase or revise fees, they must provide three months’ notice so that our micro and small entrepreneurs have the opportunity to prepare themselves. It should not be a sudden increase,” he explained.

Maman noted that the regulation has been consulted with both relevant ministries and marketplace representatives, and in principle, all parties have expressed their agreement.