Incentives Proposed as Amendment to Antimonopoly Law to Combat Cartels

Head of the Legal Bureau of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (Komisi Pengawas Persaingan Usaha - “KPPU”), Manaek SM Pasaribu said that the leniency program is one of the proposals in the amendment to Law No. 5 of 1999 on Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition, which was previously amended by Regulation of the Government in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation (collectively referred to as “Law 5/1999”).

“This is a kind of incentive given to business actors who admit to acts that are suspected of violating business competition,” Manaek told Hukumonline.

Similar programs, said Manaek, are implemented by Japan, Korea, and the United States. This program was adopted in the national interest because the existence of cartels tends to be difficult to prove.

Such acknowledgment can avoid administrative and criminal fines. “So the incentive for business actors is very large, so they compete to be the first to confess. That is one effective (effort) to dismantle cartels,” he said.