YLKI needs to promote activities among the public

YLKI needs to promote activities among the public

JAKARTA (JP): What do people know of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI)? What are their expectations of the foundation?

The following is excerpts of interviews with four people, including a director of a state-owned company.

Aziz Sabarto, PLN's distribution director for Jakarta and Tangerang.

Along with other large-scale public services companies, PLN receives a lot of complaints from its electricity users nationwide. "We do apologize for failing to respond to customers' complaints immediately because of various constraints," said Sabarto.

He said that often people lodged complaints with lower-ranking officials who did not pass them on to their supervisors who, as the result, often thought everything was all right.

"We can provide better service as long as we know what the real problems are," added Sabarto.

The role of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation's (YLKI) was crucial in building a bridge to link producers and consumers, he said. "The foundation is a good mediator between both sides," noted Sabarto.

YLKI, he said, had been actively organizing special forums where producers and consumers were able to achieve effective two- way communication. In the case of PLN, which took part in such a forum last Monday, Sabarto said that through that kind of event PLN's officials obtained crucial facts directly from consumers .

For the last few years PLN, in cooperation with YLKI, has been holding a producer-client forum in order to better serve the public.

"The forum always works effectively. We gain valuable information and, at the same time, the forum is aimed at encouraging customers to be more open and more critical," he said.

"I encourage consumers to be more critical if they happen to find any problems with the company's electricity services," he said.

He said many people ignored the importance of the company's electricity register card, which contains the number of kilowatt hours of energy they consume each month.

"When a PLN official makes monthly visits to consumers' houses to take a reading, they (the customers) never follow the official to double check that he writes the number correctly. If he writes the wrong number it will certainly affect the size of their monthly electricity bill," he said.

He went on to say that people should not hesitate to report any impropriety on the part of PLN employees. "If they are found guilty, we will immediately impose administrative sanctions against those unscrupulous employees. They will really ruin our public image," he said.

Conceding that PLN was still widely criticized for poor service, Sabarto said that the company was currently undergoing intensive reorganization to improve its services to the public. He said that most critics cited the company's inability to deal immediately with blackouts, a poor installation system that leads to various electrical disturbances and, most importantly, unsatisfactory public service.

PLN currently has two million customers who use about 6.4 million KwH of electricity.

"We are now working extremely hard to improve our public image and to provide the best service to our clients," he said.

PLN had, he said, launched new services, including the installation of machines which enable clients to pay their electricity bills in 24 hours. Presently, people have to wait patiently in a long queue just to pay their monthly bills.

With the new facility, he said, customers could just pick up the phone and apply for new electricity installation. PLN would process the application within only a day, he said.

"However, we need input from the public so that we can do our best," he concluded.

Natalia, a female worker who lives in a new housing complex, Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), in the Serpong area, 15 kilometers southwest of Jakarta.

In her opinion, YLKI should work more actively in protecting local consumers. The foundation should also promote its activities in order to increase public awareness of consumer rights.

At present, only a few people know that YLKI exists as an organization that can help protect consumer's rights, Natalia said. Most people, especially those living in rural areas, do not have any idea about YLKI because they have never been informed, she added.

Concerning public services, in particular, consumers always stand in a very weak positions, she said. People cannot do anything to protect themselves, she said, even against actions that inflicted moral as well as material losses. When she applied to have electricity installed at her new house, she said, she went to the nearest PLN branch office and a number of the company's officials agreed to immediately carry out the installation. Several months later, however, she received a warning letter from PLN, reprimanding her for illegally using PLN's electricity. Natalia had to pay a fine of Rp 1.6 million. She was also 'terrorized' by a number of PLN officials, she said.

"I thought I had already applied in accordance with the existing procedures. The fact that it was illegal hurt me so much as consumer. I was cheated by those officials," Natalia said.

Nenny Siti Hasanah, a public relations officer of the state railway company Perumka.

YLKI is a good organization. It provides significant input, mostly for government or private agencies which deal with public services," Nenny said.

The foundation might function better if the public were aware of their rights, she said. On the other hand, she said, government agencies and other organizations should accept information from YLKI in order to improve their public services.

In the case of Perumka, she stressed, the company should regard service to the public as its first priority.

She said Perumka still had difficulties in meeting clients' demands for better service.

"But customers are encouraged to complain to us if they feel dissatisfied with our services," Nenny said.

Nanny Budiman, manager of Diamond Information Center.

"Most Indonesian people still adhere to the Javanese principle of nrimo, meaning accepting whatever you get without being too critical," Nanny said.

If a woman buys a dress and then finds out that it is slightly damaged, she may feel that it is pointless to complain to the store attendant.

"She will receive a classic answer saying that goods sold are not returnable. Consumers have no right to complain," she said. (raw)