Fears of Fuel Price Hike Cause Queues at Petrol Stations in Jakarta and Bekasi

Rumours of a fuel price hike prompted motorists to swarm petrol stations on Tuesday (31/3/2026). News of rising fuel prices circulated on social media through screenshots of a document showing a price increase table for fuels from Pertamax and Pertamax Green 95 to Pertamax Turbo, Pertadex, and Dexlite. Kompas.com observations at two private petrol stations on Jalan Daan Mogot revealed queues of two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles stretching to arterial roads. The first station, BP-AKR on the side of Jalan Daan Mogot towards Grogol, saw motorcycle queues exceeding 20 vehicles and spilling onto the main road, with car queues also visible though shorter. Similar conditions occurred at the opposite Vivo station, where motorcyclists waited over 20 minutes to refuel. Comparable queues formed at Vivo and Pertamina stations on Jalan MT Haryono, Tebet, South Jakarta, heading towards Cawang. In one incident, a red car slowed in the middle of the road, causing a following motorcycle to crash into its rear as the rider failed to brake in time. Queues persisted at various stations into Tuesday night, even after the government officially announced no fuel price increase. This included the Pertamina 34.171.44 station on Jalan RA Kartini, Margahayu Ward, East Bekasi Subdistrict, Bekasi City. The congestion was triggered by rumours of price hikes and government fuel restrictions allegedly starting Wednesday (1/4/2026). Similar situations arose at stations in Bintaro, South Tangerang, until 9:46 PM WIB. Vehicle lines continued to spill onto surrounding roads approaching midnight. Gari (33), a resident of Palmerah, West Jakarta, said he learned of the price hike information from community chat groups. “Yesterday I heard from WhatsApp groups, the RT group this morning said it would rise to Rp 17,000 for Pertamax tomorrow,” Gari told Kompas.com while queuing at a station on Tuesday night (31/3/2026). Gari was initially sceptical about the unverified information. However, he thought it seemed plausible given the ongoing conflicts depleting global oil stocks and driving up prices. “Especially since it’s said that subsidies won’t increase, but non-subsidised fuels will be released at global prices, so it makes sense in this kind of situation,” he explained.