Scalpers arrested but go unpunished
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Following a police pledge to crack down on ticket scalpers, 11 perpetrators were captured at Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta over the past week, but were released within 24 hours of their arrest due to the lack of legal grounds on which to prosecute them.
The scalpers were let off after a formal interrogation and documentation procedures had been completed.
Last week, Jakarta police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bahrul Alam announced that scalpers could be charged with unruly conduct under Article 335 of the Criminal Code, or with fraud, extortion and forgery.
At the Gambir police station in Central Jakarta, police confirmed they had arrested the scalpers during raids at the station, but were unable to proceed further due to the fact that no victim had filed a complaint with the police.
"Thus far, there is no legal provision with which to punish scalpers. All we can do is to conduct raids. As long as no complaints have been received from people who feel they have been victimized, the articles in question cannot be applied," said the Central Jakarta Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol.
According to state rail company PT Kereta Api Indonesia spokesman Zainal Abidin, there are 76 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel stationed at Gambir station and the ticket reservation office on Jl. Juanda, Central Jakarta, in addition to 180 security guards at the railway station, to monitor and curb the activities of scalpers.
This was effective in minimizing the number of scalpers, although not necessarily eliminating them from the railway station.
They were clearly still present in Gambir on Monday, and were seen brazenly approaching intending travelers, promising to obtain tickets for various destinations.
The prices charged by scalpers can be up to 100 percent higher than the official prices.
"I got the tickets from a travel agent," Ongen, a scalper at Gambir who claimed to have been operating there for the past three years, told The Jakarta Post.
In the reservation office, which takes bookings for executive train tickets only, Brimob and PT KAI security guards were very much in evidence.
Ticket seekers, some of whom admitted to having bought tickets from scalpers in the past, were queuing dutifully.
"I bought a ticket from a scalper because at the time I was to busy to queue, and when I got to the station all the tickets were sold out," said company employee Ruli Marpaung.
The lack of an adequate legal framework, the habits of travelers and the ineffectiveness of PT KAI in managing their tickets are all contributing factors when it comes to the prevalence of scalpers, according to Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.
"A legal basis should be established in order to prosecute the scalpers. The city councillors could draft a bylaw outlawing this activity," Tubagus said.