Online Loans vs Debtors: Understanding Rights and Obligations in Repayments

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Recipients of loans from peer-to-peer lending fintech platforms or online loans (pindar) are obliged to complete the agreed instalments. Pindar debtors are expected to have a sense of responsibility to settle the loan and avoid decisions that hinder the payment process. The Indonesian Association of Fintech Peer-to-Peer Funding (AFPI) explains that fintech lending providers will use other methods when borrowers do not show good faith in settling the loan. AFPI General Chairman Entjik S Djafar explains that one common method is to inquire about the borrower’s whereabouts from the registered backup contacts. “If it is difficult or impossible to contact, we will use our right to ask about the borrower’s whereabouts from the emergency contact,” he told Kompas.com on Monday (30/3/2026). A note: Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection (UU PDP) requires data controllers to obtain explicit consent and provide clarity on the purpose and use of personal data to its owner. “Which has been agreed and approved by that contact person,” he added. Nevertheless, Entjik said that when borrowers do not show good intentions to complete payments through various means, pindar has other options, one of which is visiting their residence. “One of them could be visiting their home,” he stated. This situation clearly depicts a lack of good faith and more often worsens the circumstances. The then Executive Head of OJK’s Business Conduct Supervision, Education, and Consumer Protection, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, said that debtors should not evade, including by changing addresses or cutting contact with the lender. “If you really can’t pay, don’t run, don’t flee, don’t change address, don’t move cities. That is said to be a consumer lacking good faith,” she stated.