Temmy Satya Permana, Deputy for Small Businesses at the Ministry of MSMEs, explained that currently, there are no official regulations regarding admin fees or commissions applied by digital platforms, either at the Ministry of Trade or the Ministry of Communication and Digital.
"So far, platform fees have been seen as benefiting large businesses more... In the future, there will be special fee reduction arrangements for micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) and domestic products," Temmy said in a working meeting with Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
Temmy explained that the Ministry of MSMEs and the Ministry of Trade are currently drafting a revision to Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 31 of 2023 to accommodate regulations related to administrative fees.
The Minister of Trade Regulation regulates Business Licensing, Advertising, Guidance and Supervision of Business Actors in Trade through Electronic Systems.
Temmy explained that in the revised Trade Ministerial Regulation Number 31 of 2023, three main points are being discussed, one of which concerns platform fee regulations, including discounts for MSMEs and domestic products.
The regulation, he continued, will also require platforms to notify the government if there are plans to increase admin fees.
Temmy also stated that the revision also includes the implementation of minimum import prices for 11 commodities that can be produced domestically.
This policy is expected to provide more space for local products to compete with imported goods entering the domestic market.
He continued, explaining that the revised regulations also address search algorithms on e-commerce platforms. Local products will be facilitated in promotions and search recommendations to ensure they are not outperformed by imported products.
"E-commerce platforms are prohibited from setting up systems that prioritize imported products, especially in search algorithms," said Temmy.
