MSMEs Minister Calls for Fairness Towards Micro and Small Enterprises on Marketplaces

Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Maman Abdurrahman has emphasised that micro and small enterprises must receive fair treatment within the marketplace ecosystem, as they cannot be placed on the same footing as medium and large businesses. The statement was made in response to rising service fees on a number of marketplaces, which are deemed to be placing a heavy burden on micro and small business operators. “We have received many inputs that administrative fees, promotional fees and so forth on marketplaces tend to keep increasing, which ultimately becomes a production cost burden for our MSMEs,” Maman said at the National Entrepreneurship and MSMEs Day 2026 event in Jakarta on Wednesday. Maman noted that the MSMEs Ministry is drafting a ministerial regulation on the protection of MSMEs on digital platforms, aimed at creating a fairer business ecosystem while boosting the competitiveness of small business operators. Maman stressed that the regulation is not intended to interfere with the marketplaces’ authority to set their fee structures or service prices, but is a form of government support to provide protection and enhance the competitiveness of MSMEs in the digital ecosystem. As a demonstration of partiality towards small business operators, Maman requested that marketplaces provide a 50 per cent discount on service fees for micro and small enterprises within the draft regulation. He said the service fee reduction is needed to ease the burden on small business operators who have long faced various levies on digital platforms. In addition, the MSMEs Ministry is also requesting that contracts between marketplaces and MSME operators provide business certainty, including through a notice period of at least three months before any changes to fees charged to sellers. According to him, such notification is essential so that business operators can better prepare their business planning and manage their cash flow. Maman affirmed that the relationship between marketplaces and MSME operators should be mutually reinforcing, as both are inseparable parts of the digital economy ecosystem. “If the marketplace collapses, the MSMEs will also collapse. But if the MSMEs collapse, the marketplace will also shake. Therefore, we must safeguard this ecosystem to become one that is just,” he said. Maman said the government continues to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to ensure that the policies implemented can sustain the businesses of the millions of MSME operators who sell through digital platforms. “We are trying to keep this ecosystem healthy and just,” he said.