Illegal levies persist at traffic police office

JAKARTA (JP): Illegal levies and poor service persist at city traffic police office despite incessant criticism from all quarters and repeated promises by officials to address the problem.

Jakartans, who tended to ownership documents of their vehicles at the office over the weekend, said that they were asked to pay Rp 15,000 (US$6.60) in grease money when they processed their car ownership documents.

The officers in charge refused to give them receipts without any reason, the Antara news agency reported Saturday, quoting applicants.

One housewife, who had the ownership documents of her car changed, said that the officer "boldly" demanded that she pay Rp 15,000 if she wanted to be looked after.

"The officer refused to give me a receipt and when I asked why the officer was furious," the woman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

She then saw Col. Suroso, chief of the traffic directorate, at the office, who told her that she did not have to pay anything but Rp 4,500, the official administrative fee.

"You don't have to pay a single rupiah over that," she quoted Suroso.

Suroso's statement was supported by chief of the section in charge of registration of vehicular documents, Lt. Col. Utjin, who said that each applicant is required to pay only Rp 4,500 in an administrative fee.

According to Antara, illegal levies are also rampant in the section that oversees registration of new vehicles.

A number of applicants have said that they had to pay Rp 25,000 in grease money if they wanted to have their new vehicles' documents handled "without a problem."

Brokers, who have made a living at the office for a great many years, said that there was nothing secret about bribing police officers in charge, if applicants want their documents to get through with little trouble.

"You ought to have extra funds to do that. There is nothing new about it," the middleman said.

"If the applicant happens to be member of the Armed Forces, or the relatives of an official from a respectable institution, everything goes smoothly and freely," he said.

An officer at the office said that individual officers' corrupt practices are also known by their superiors.

Illegal levies, brokerage and other forms of poor services are well known in the city traffic police office, which is jointly managed with the city administration.

Public complaints and legislators' criticism have occasionally been responded to with a crackdown but business always gets back to normal several days after the crackdown.

Officially, the police have always encouraged the public not to use scalpers and brokers when tending to their business there, but the suggestions are often ineffective because the arduous administrative procedures discourage applicants. (pan)