House of Representatives: National Digital Social Assistance Must Be Accompanied by Complaint Channels

Selly Andriany Gantina, a member of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), has requested that the government ensure the digitalisation of social assistance (bansos) distribution is accompanied by easily accessible and responsive complaint channels for beneficiaries. This step is considered crucial to protecting vulnerable groups from non-technical obstacles in the field.

“What is the point of a good system if supervision is weak? Therefore, in its distribution, there needs to be strong oversight, including complaint services, so that vulnerable groups are not disadvantaged by non-technical issues,” Selly stated in Jakarta on Thursday (10/09/2026).

This statement responds to the government’s plan to transform social assistance delivery by opening accounts with nominal values of Rp50,000–80,000. The programme aims to integrate population data with the financial sector to increase distribution efficiency.

According to Selly, the opening of accounts as part of the digitalisation of social assistance should not focus solely on administrative and technological aspects. The government must ensure that beneficiaries receive comprehensive protection, from the identification process to the use and withdrawal of aid.

“The government needs to ensure there is a mechanism that protects beneficiaries from the identification process and account opening, through to the use and withdrawal of assistance,” she emphasised.

Selly urged the government to provide a comprehensive complaint channel to report various issues, such as problematic accounts, identity errors, missing balances, and suspected account misuse. She noted that these channels should be available through various routes, both digital and non-digital, to ensure that members of the public with limited access to technology can still voice their grievances.

In addition to complaint services, Selly emphasised the importance of assistance for social assistance recipients. She acknowledged that not all beneficiaries possess the same level of digital and financial literacy. Therefore, the verification process must be conducted accurately and transparently.

Data integration, she continued, must be accompanied by strong update and correction mechanisms. This aims to prevent the opening of accounts based on erroneous data or the exclusion of eligible citizens from the programme.

“The public also needs to be provided with clear information regarding the reasons they have received an account, their social assistance membership status, and the procedures to follow if there are data errors,” she added.

She concluded that the success of social assistance digitalisation should not be measured solely by the number of accounts opened, but by the timeliness, accuracy of the amount, and the security of the process without costs or procedures that burden the public.

Dipo Satria Ramli, an economist from CORE Indonesia, highlighted the implementation challenges of the government’s plan to create automatic accounts based on National Identity Numbers (NIK) for social assistance distribution.

The government aims to complete 80% of social assistance digitalisation by October 2026, with the goal of reducing mistargeted aid to below 10% using facial recognition technology. The government intends to ensure that the classification of public welfare aligns with actual conditions so that aid is not misdirected.