New E-Commerce Regulations Prepared to Protect MSMEs from Service Fees

The Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is currently preparing regulations regarding service fees on e-commerce platforms to create a fairer ecosystem for micro and small business actors. The Minister of MSMEs, Maman Abdurrahman, stated that the regulation will be implemented through a Ministerial Regulation on the Protection and Enhancement of MSME Competitiveness, which has now completed the harmonisation process.

“There has been a letter from the Ministry of Law stating that harmonisation is complete; we are now just waiting for the promulgation at the Ministry of State Secretariat,” said Maman following a working meeting with Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Monday (18/05/2026).

He explained that one of the primary focuses of the policy is the restructuring of cost components within the marketplace ecosystem, which has been deemed diverse and often confusing for MSME players. The government intends to standardise cost components into three main categories: registration fees, service fees, and promotional fees.

“Currently, on marketplace A, the name is different; on marketplace B, it is different. Therefore, everything is inconsistent. Consequently, people assume there are numerous levies on marketplaces, when in reality, there are only three components,” he said.

Furthermore, the government is encouraging the provision of incentives, such as service fee reductions of up to 50 per cent, for micro and small business actors selling on marketplaces, particularly for domestic products. Maman emphasised that this policy is a form of government intervention to protect micro and small businesses, ensuring they do not compete directly without protection against medium and large enterprises on digital platforms. According to him, the government cannot allow micro and small businesses to ‘fight freely’ in marketplaces without supportive policy interventions.