Hoax! Ministry of Transportation to levy tax on pedestrians
Jakarta (ANTARA/JACX) – An Instagram post features a photograph of Budi Setiyadi, former Director General of Land Transport at the Ministry of Transport (Kemenhub), speaking at a microphone.
The post narrates as if the Ministry of Transport had floated the idea of collecting tax from pedestrians.
It also shows a photograph of the Director of Traffic (Dirlantas) of Metro Jaya Regional Police, Brigadier General Pol. Komarudin, accompanied by a narrative suggesting pedestrians could be issued electronic traffic fines.
The following is the narrative in the post:
“Pedestrian Tax to Be Collected, Ministry of Transport Floats Idea of Pedestrians Paying Tax”
But is it true that the Ministry of Transport will collect tax from pedestrians?
Explanation:
Based on our investigation, there has been no official statement from the Ministry of Transport regarding any plan or proposal to impose a tax on pedestrians. The photographs used in the post are also unrelated to the narrative.
The photograph of Budi Setiyadi, former Director General of Land Transport, is identical to one published by Tribun News covering coordination between the Ministry of Transport and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) regarding preparations for the 2021 Eid homecoming traffic.
In that report, there was no statement about any plan to tax pedestrians.
Meanwhile, the photograph of Brigadier General Pol. Komarudin, Director of Traffic at Metro Jaya Regional Police, matches coverage by Berita Nasional TV entitled “Dirlantas Polda Metro Jaya Responds to Issue of Pedestrians Fined via ETLE”.
On that occasion, Komarudin emphasised that information suggesting pedestrians could be issued electronic fines (Electronic Traffic Law Enforcement/ETLE) was untrue.
He explained that the ETLE system is designed solely to detect and identify traffic violations committed by motor vehicle riders, not pedestrians.
Therefore, the claim that the Ministry of Transport floated the idea of taxing pedestrians is false.
Claim: Ministry of Transport will collect tax from pedestrians
Rating: Hoax
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