Regulation on E-Commerce Platform Fees will be Re-Regulated

The Ministry of Trade (“Kemendag”) is revising the regulation on e-commerce platform fees as regulated under the amendment to Regulation of the Minister of Trade (“Mendag”) No. 31 of 2023 on Business Licensing, Advertising, Development, and Supervision of Business Actors in Trading through Electronic Systems (“Permendag 31/2023”). Kemendag has confirmed that they are currently considering several regulatory scheme options.

“It is still under discussion. This revision of Permendag 31/2023 is intended to ensure that domestically produced goods of micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (“MSMEs”) are significantly more competitive on e-commerce platforms,” said Iqbal Shoffan Shofwan, the Director-General of Domestic Trade, to Hukumonline.

The options currently being reviewed include not only limiting the imposition of fees by platforms but also implementing an algorithm-based fee regulation of each platform. Iqbal emphasized that such regulation is aimed at safeguarding the competitiveness of domestic products on digital trading platforms, particularly textiles, textile products, and footwear.

Iqbal further assured that the platform fee regulations currently being formulated will also prevent platforms from imposing new additional fees that could burden consumers. “The target is to finalize it this year,” he stressed.