KPPU Ruling on Fintech Lending Interest Rates Could Impact Lenders
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has ruled that 97 business actors in the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending fintech or online loan sector have violated Article 5 of Law No. 5 of 1999 regarding price fixing or interest rates in Case No. 05/KPPU-I/2025. For this violation, the operators have been imposed various fines, with a total fine amounting to Rp 755 billion.
Regarding this, observer and Director of the Digital Economy at the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), Nailul Huda, opined that the KPPU’s decision could impact lenders in the fintech lending industry.
“The most felt impact is on lenders, not borrowers,” he stated to Kontan on Friday (27/3/2026).
However, if viewed from the financing demand, it is still considered quite high.
Conversely, Nailul believes that fintech lending borrowers are not too concerned with the KPPU’s decision. He said they prioritise whether the platform can still provide financing or not, rather than looking at the KPPU ruling.
In responding to the KPPU decision, Nailul said that the fintech lending industry should be able to file an appeal. However, he noted that it all depends on each platform’s decision.
Previously, the Head of Public Relations and Cooperation Bureau of KPPU, Deswin Nur, stated that the decision in the case was determined after a law enforcement process from 2023 to the final examination stage.
Deswin stated that the ruling also marks the end of one of the largest business competition cases ever handled by KPPU, both in terms of the number of respondents and the scope of the industry that directly impacts the wider public.
He said that based on the examination of evidence and facts revealed in the trial, the Commission Panel concluded that there had been an agreement on interest rate fixing and/or economic benefits carried out by the respondents.
In that situation, the existence of an upper limit directs the expectations and pricing strategies of business actors, thus encouraging the formation of aligned behaviour in interest rate setting.
“As a result, this policy reduces the intensity of price competition and hinders competitive dynamics in the online loan market,” Deswin said in an official statement on Thursday (26/3/2026).
Deswin explained that the Commission Panel in the trial also assessed that the formal aspects in the aforesaid case had been carried out in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and based on the principles of justice.