Fuel Price Hike Rumours Cause Queues at South Jakarta Petrol Stations, Disrupting Traffic
Several public fuel filling stations (SPBU) in South Jakarta were observed to be crowded on Tuesday afternoon (31/3/2026), amid circulating rumours of an increase in fuel oil (BBM) prices.
Kompas.com observations noted vehicle queues at the Vivo SPBU and Pertamina SPBU on Jalan MT Haryono, Tebet, heading towards Cawang. At the Vivo SPBU, the car queue even snaked onto the main road and temporarily hindered traffic flow.
The situation prompted honking from drivers behind the queue. In the midst of it, a red car was seen slowing down in the middle of the road, causing a motorcycle behind it to fail to brake in time and collide with the car’s rear.
The incident briefly triggered more honking, though the car driver chose to continue the journey without making an issue of it.
Meanwhile, at the Pertamina SPBU, the queue was dominated by motorcycles. Riders formed two lines up to the entrance of the SPBU. An attendant was seen standing guard to manage the queue while opening access for other vehicles wishing to enter.
One motorcyclist, Iman (24), said that the private SPBU, dominated by the colour blue, is often busy, especially when fuel stock is available. According to him, the queue that afternoon was still considered normal.
Iman admitted to having heard rumours of a BBM price increase that was said to take effect on Wednesday (1/4/2026). However, he was not immediately driven to make a large purchase.
“But if it’s really going to rise, I might fill up later after work,” said Iman when met by Kompas.com on Tuesday.
“Well, in the future, if it has risen, it will surely fall again once it’s stable,” he added.
Another rider, Rian (29), expressed a similar view. The man, who works as an online motorcycle taxi driver, said he was not affected by the fuel price increase rumours because he still has to refuel every day.
“So it doesn’t matter if I fill up today. I’ll fill up again tomorrow,” said Rian when met separately.
Meanwhile, Kemal (28) said that he was refuelling simply out of need, not because he was influenced by the price increase rumours.
He even admitted to hearing news that the fuel price increase plan might not be implemented.
“Yeah, just because it’s running low, but I hope it doesn’t really go up,” Kemal stated.