04/12/2009
Indonesian Postal Services No Longer A Government Monopoly
In the final days of its tenure, the 2004-2009 Indonesian Parliament (DPR) managed to complete a bill on Postal Services which was signed by the President and enacted as Law No. 36 of 2009 (“Law No.36/2009”). Law 36/2009 replaces the old Law No. 6 of 1984 on the same subject matter.
The new law brought about a significant change to the postal services framework in that it dissolves the monopoly PT. Pos Indonesia Persero (Posindo) has so far enjoyed. More players can now take part in the business of providing postal services, including co-operatives, regional government owned companies and private companies. All business entities wishing to engage in this business are required to obtain a permit for the provision of postal services from the respective Minister.
A provision of note in this recently enacted law is the one regarding postal tariffs, which allows postal service providers to set their tariffs based on market mechanism provided that they are in line with the provisions of a ministerial regulation regarding the tariffs that is still to be issued by the Minister. The tariffs for universal postal services are still determined by the government.
The remaining provisions of Law No.36/2009 concern stamps and post codes, consumer protection, treatment of the goods dispatched by post and provisions for the purposes of the development and improvement of postal services. This law also requires the government to restructure the existing state-owned postal service providers.
The bill came into immediate force on the date of its enactment by the President.