Trade Minister Responds to Sellers' Complaints on E-Commerce Shipping Costs: Still Under Discussion
Trade Minister Budi Santoso has responded to complaints from sellers regarding the imposition of logistics costs or shipping fees (ongkir) by several e-commerce platforms. This scheme is considered burdensome for sellers as the shipping costs are fully charged to them.
Quoted from detikFinance, this situation is even said to be pushing some business actors to leave marketplaces and switch to independent sales sites. Budi stated that the government is preparing a revision to Trade Ministerial Regulation (Permendag) No. 31 of 2023 on Business Licensing, Advertising, Guidance, and Supervision of Business Actors in Trade Through Electronic Systems.
Budi mentioned that the discussion on the regulation revision is still ongoing with several related ministries and agencies. Therefore, he has not confirmed whether provisions regarding logistics costs will be included in the revision.
“Yes, we’ll see (about the logistics costs). Everything is still under discussion among ministries and agencies,” Budi said when met at Sarinah Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on Sunday (10/5/2026).
He also revealed that he has held several meetings with e-commerce companies to discuss improvements to the digital trade ecosystem. According to him, communication with marketplace platforms continues to find the best solutions for all parties, including sellers and local business actors.
“We’ve discussed it, but we’re continuing the discussions. Yes, we’ve met several times,” he explained.
Budi emphasised that the regulation revision aims to further prioritise local products in the promotion and sales systems. In addition, he wants to ensure that the rights of sellers are maintained amid the dynamics of platform and logistics costs.
“In principle, to protect consumers. Then also how the rights obtained by sellers or local products are further prioritised in promotions or sales through e-commerce,” Budi clarified.
He targets the revision to be completed this month. However, Budi declined to reveal further details on the revision points in the policy. He assured that the purpose of the revision is to improve the digital trade ecosystem to be healthier for all parties.
Budi emphasised that there are two priorities in the regulation revision. The first is consumer protection. The second is favouring local products.
“So we’re improving the e-commerce ecosystem together, both from business actors, platform owners, and sellers. But it’s not finished yet, still under discussion,” Budi added.
In this revision process, the Ministry of Trade continues to maintain intensive communication with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs so that the regulations issued later do not overlap and instead complement each other.
“In terms of process, it’s always simultaneous because we’re always communicating. So if there is any, it will complement each other. We’re generally about the ecosystem as mentioned,” Budi added.
As is known, several e-commerce platforms are implementing shipping fees starting this May. The latest, TikTok Shop began enforcing logistics service fees for all new orders from 1 May 2026.
This logistics service fee covers the entire order processing chain, logistics coordination, to the final delivery stage to the buyer. The amount is not fixed but depends on the package weight and distance travelled.
“This fee is borne by the seller and will not be displayed to the buyer at checkout,” reads the TikTok Shop announcement to sellers, quoted on Wednesday (6/5).
Meanwhile, Shopee Indonesia began adjusting service fees for the Free Shipping XTRA programme from 2 May. Currently, the fee depends on the package size, namely regular size products and special size products, as well as product categories.
Regular size products are items weighing under 5 kg, dimensions under 60 cm, under 20,000 cm³. The service fee for regular size products in that programme is around 1-8%.
Meanwhile, special size products are items weighing 5 kg or more, length/width/height 60 cm or more, or dimensions 20,000 cm³ or more. The service fee for special size products ranges from 2.5-9.5%.
Director General of Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Iqbal Shoffan Shofwan, said that every imposition of service fees on marketplaces must prioritise the principle of fairness. Iqbal emphasised the importance of communication space between e-commerce platforms and seller partners before new policies are implemented. He assured that his side continues to monitor so that the ecosystem on the platform remains competitive, especially for local products.
“In principle, this must be done transparently, fairly, and not harming business actors, especially those selling local products,” Iqbal told detikcom on Wednesday (6/5).