Ride-Hailing Included in E-commerce Regulations
The Minister of Trade, Budi Santoso, signed the Draft Regulation of the Minister of Trade concerning the Implementation of Trade through Electronic Systems (PMSE) on Thursday, 4 June 2026. This regulation will replace the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 31 of 2023 regarding Business Licensing, Advertising, Development, and Supervision of Business Actors in Trade through Electronic Systems.
Under this new regulation, the Ministry of Trade has added two business models—ride-hailing and Online Travel Agents (OTA)—as part of the PMSE organisers. For ride-hailing, Budi defines this business model as an electronic system in the field of land transportation that may include features for trading goods or services as additional services within the same ecosystem.
Budi emphasised that the regulation of ride-hailing in the new Ministerial Regulation will target the activity of trading goods facilitated by the platform through commercial features within the application. “Thus, what is regulated is the transaction of buying and selling goods, not the transportation service,” Budi stated in a written statement on Thursday, 4 June 2026.
The business model to be regulated in the new regulation also includes online travel agents, or electronic systems for the sale or booking of travel services, either directly or through the facilitation of transactions between consumers and business actors. These services sell or organise transport tickets, accommodation, attractions, or travel packages.
Budi stated that the addition of these two PMSE business models in the e-commerce regulation revision is a response to the dynamic development of the digital trade landscape, while simultaneously providing legal certainty for entrepreneurs. Broadly speaking, Budi noted that the regulation revision will focus on five main aspects: increasing the visibility of local products, facilitating business legality, ensuring transparency in digital platform partnerships, strengthening consumer protection, and enhancing digital technology governance.
He stated that the revision of the PMSE regulation aims to encourage a fair, healthy, and beneficial digital trade ecosystem. “This is certainly done while considering dynamic technological developments,” he said.
The regulation will govern the priority visibility of micro and small enterprises as well as domestic products on platforms, the obligation to hold business licences, transparency in fee imposition and platform promotion policies, and the provision of promotional incentives for entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it will cover the provision of complaint and dispute mechanisms by platforms, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in product promotion and marketing, and protection against unfair trade practices.
Regarding the obligation for all traders selling through platforms to hold business licences, Budi emphasised the importance of such regulation in creating a more orderly and healthy digital trade ecosystem. According to him, business licensing also provides opportunities for business actors, particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises, to access various government programmes ranging from training and financing to promotional facilitation. To ensure entrepreneurs can adapt to the new policy, Budi stated that a grace period for fulfilling business licensing obligations has been established. He expressed hope that the transition process through this regulation can proceed gradually and without placing an undue burden on businesses.