Parliament Calls for Frugality: Limit Use of Fuel, Electricity, and Official Travel
Secretary General of the House of Representatives Indra Iskandar stated that his institution has formulated ways to save energy in response to the rise in global oil prices. According to Indra, the three main focuses of savings for the DPR General Secretariat are limiting the use of fuel oil, regulating electricity usage in the DPR building, and tightening official travel rules.
The limitation on fuel oil usage applies to echelon I to III officials who use official vehicles, with a savings target of Rp 1.5 billion. “The DPR General Secretariat targets savings of around Rp 1.5 billion in one year once this policy is implemented,” said Indra, quoted from a written statement on the DPR website on Saturday, 28 March 2026.
In addition to limiting the use of official vehicles, a Radio Frequency Identification-based fuel control system will be implemented in the future, involving technology for identification and real-time monitoring of fuel distribution via RFID labels installed on vehicles.
Indra also opened the possibility of implementing a work-from-home policy specifically on Fridays. “If we implement WFH on Fridays, the employee shuttle bus does not need to operate. This certainly offers significant efficiency potential,” he said.
Then, electricity savings in the DPR Complex will begin with scheduled power outages starting at 6:00 PM WIB. According to Indra, this step can save electrical energy when there are few workers at night. These savings will impact the overall building operations, including the use of lifts and other facilities.
Next, the DPR General Secretariat has decided to select its employees’ official travel. Official travel that does not have high urgency will be limited or switched to virtual meetings. “For activities with high urgency such as discussing draft laws or public hearings that require direct presence, we will still facilitate them.”
Indra explained that this policy was discussed before the 2026 Eid al-Fitr holiday by the Building and Residence Management Bureau together with the General Bureau of the DPR General Secretariat. This savings policy will be implemented after the Lebaran holiday until the end of the 2026 fiscal year.
According to him, in the future, this policy will be evaluated periodically and additional efficiencies may be possible. He claimed that this policy will not disrupt the DPR General Secretariat’s services to the leadership and council members.
Moreover, he is aware that the dynamics of DPR meetings are directly related to public interests that cannot be rigidly limited. “Council meetings concern public interests, so their timing is very dynamic and cannot be restricted. That remains our primary concern,” said Indra.
Indra hopes that this savings policy will contribute to national fiscal stability while ensuring optimal performance of the legislative institution. This policy is a response from the state institution to efficiency plans to address potential crises due to the war between the United States and Israel against Iran.
In the plenary cabinet session two weeks ago, President Prabowo Subianto expressed his desire to save in facing potential crises due to the war in West Asia. He also gave examples of other countries that have saved. One of them is Pakistan, which is said to be saving because it considers this global crisis equivalent to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“They even reduced salaries for cabinet members, for DPR members, and all these salary savings are collected to help the most vulnerable groups,” said Prabowo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday, 13 March 2026.
Pakistan, said Prabowo, also implemented a work-from-home policy for civil servants and private sector employees. For savings, Prabowo said, the South Asian country also reduced working days.
In addition, Prabowo mentioned Pakistan which mandated government agencies to reduce the use of official vehicles by up to 60 percent. Prabowo said other countries also stopped overseas visits for savings.
“They reduced not allowing government funds to be used for party events and so on. Then, all their higher education institutions switched to online, all schools stopped for two weeks,” he said.
Various policies, according to Prabowo, can reduce oil fuel consumption whose prices and supplies are volatile due to the war between the US-Israel and Iran. The General Chairman of the Gerindra Party also hopes that Indonesia can take similar saving steps.