Thousands of 'Phantom' Barcodes Blocked, Yet Queues for Subsidised Diesel in Jambi Persist

Despite frequent inspections by law enforcement, BPH Migas, and members of the House of Representatives’ Commission XII, queues of vehicles hunting for subsidised diesel continue to haunt most public fuel stations (SPBU) in Jambi Province as of Monday (20/7/2026). The phenomenon of long queues was observed when a joint team conducted surprise inspections at several SPBUs in Jambi City. The team involved the Specific Crime Unit (Tipidter) of the Jambi Police Criminal Investigation Unit, the Jambi City Industry Office, and Pertamina Patra Niaga for the Sumbagsel Region. At SPBU 24.361.70 in the Talang Kawo area, Pal X, Kotabaru District, queues of vehicles—dominated by coal transport trucks—were seen snaking onto the edge of the Jambi City southern ring road. Although officers did not find modified tanks, the team discovered indications of fraud in the form of multiple licence plate usage. Head of the Jambi Police Tipidter Unit, Iptu Dhea Cakra Tirta, revealed that his party found three different licence plates suspected of being used to trick the subsidised diesel (Bio Solar) purchasing system. Additionally, two barcodes that did not match their intended use were found. “Vehicles were still found using inappropriate barcodes. We found two barcodes suspected of being problematic and immediately handed them over to Pertamina to be blocked. This is important so that subsidised fuel is truly channelled to the entitled public,” Dhea asserted. Responding to the chaos in subsidised fuel distribution, Sales Branch Manager Fuel I Jambi of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, Abdillah Rorke, stated that firm steps have been taken. To date, Pertamina has blocked nearly 11,000 ‘phantom’ barcodes or QR Codes that were indicated as duplicates or misused. “We continue to urge the public to use fuel according to its designation and not to utilise barcodes that are not their right,” said Abdillah. Meanwhile, Head of the Legal Metrology UPTD of the Jambi City Industry Office, Bambang, confirmed that from a technical filling perspective, the measurements at the inspected SPBUs were within normal limits. Inspections at SPBU Talang Gulo and SPBU Paal Lima showed that fuel measurements, both subsidised and non-subsidised, were in accordance with applicable regulations. Although the pump machine measurements were declared accurate and thousands of illegal accounts have been blocked, the reality on the ground shows that the distribution of subsidised diesel in Jambi still faces major challenges due to the high volume of industrial vehicles joining the queue for subsidised fuel.