Jakarta Inspectorate Warns Civil Servants of Consequences for Online Gambling

The Jakarta Inspectorate has warned Civil Servants (ASN) about the legal consequences of engaging in online gambling. “What is certain is that there is Government Regulation (PP) Number 94 of 2021 concerning employee discipline. Then, there is the application of the code of ethics,” said Head of the DKI Jakarta Inspectorate Dhanny Sukma in West Jakarta on Wednesday. He stressed that the behaviour of all ASN is continuously monitored, including online gambling activities. “Later, we will see the escalation. If the escalation meets the criteria for imposing disciplinary punishment, and then the code of ethics, especially if this is done for the second time, of course the disciplinary punishment will be more severe. That exists,” Dhanny stated. Furthermore, he also warned about the impact of online gambling on the integrity and economic survival of families. “If the family’s economy is not fulfilled because it is spiced with unclear false hopes (from online gambling), then what emerges is conflict. When there is conflict, the impact is on family integrity,” Dhanny said. “Because the fulfilment of their needs is limited, they will look for ways. An ASN will also potentially seek online loans, for example. If they are chased by online loans, what happens in the end? Depression, stress, wanting to commit suicide, which we often see, right? Many people commit suicide just because of problems from online loans, which initially came from online gambling, because there are false hopes there,” Dhanny explained. Therefore, he hopes that all ASN within the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government will avoid online gambling and instead become pioneers in eradicating this destructive behaviour. On the other hand, he mentioned that online gambling cases in Jakarta continue to rise every year. “The trend always increases from year to year. In 2023, we obtained data from PPATK (Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) of 80,000 players. The following year, it doubled, reaching around 150,000. The same goes for the next year,” Dhanny explained. According to him, a deep collective awareness is needed that online gambling is very dangerous for the economic survival of families. “Including its impact on family conflict, economic conflict within the family, and also on a broader scale,” Dhanny concluded.