Welcome National Consumer Day, Understand Our Rights and Responsibilities as Consumers

Apr 05, 2024

National Consumer Day is commemorated every April 20th in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 13 of 2012 and follows the issuance date of Law No. 8 of 1999 regarding Consumer Protection. Anyone who uses goods and services for personal, family, others’, or other living beings’ purposes, not for buying and selling purposes, can be called a consumer.

The celebration of National Consumer Day itself is an effort to increase awareness of consumer rights and responsibilities and to promote the improvement of product quality and business competitiveness in Indonesia in the era of globalization. This also strengthens the role of consumers as agents of change in the Indonesian economy and encourages the government to better enforce consumer protection.

Recently, the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or OJK) issued Financial Services Authority Regulation (Peraturan Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or POJK) Number 22 of 2023, replacing POJK Number 6 of 2022 concerning Consumer and Community Protection in the Financial Services Sector, effective since December 22, 2023. In anticipation of National Consumer Day in 2024, let's further discuss consumer protection and our rights and responsibilities as consumers.

Understanding Consumer Protection Principles

In accordance with consumer and community protection provisions in the financial services sector, Consumer Protection in the financial services sector needs to adhere to the following principles:

Adequate education;
Transparency and openness of product and/or service information;
Fair treatment and responsible business behavior;
Protection of consumer assets, privacy, and data;
Effective and efficient complaint handling and dispute resolution;
Compliance enforcement; and
Healthy competition.

The rules governing the conduct of Financial Services Business Actors (Pelaku Usaha Jasa Keuangan or PUJK) in conducting their business activities ensure that we as consumers are protected from financial practices that deviate from applicable laws. PUJK in conducting business activities must apply the Consumer Protection principle.

Consumer and Potential Consumer Rights

Potential consumers and consumers have rights that must be fulfilled by PUJK, including:

Obtaining safe products and good, fair, non-discriminatory services
Choosing and obtaining products and services according to the offer
Receiving financial education and clear, accurate, true, and easily accessible product/service information
Having their opinions and complaints heard
Being protected from actions that violate legal regulations or norms in society that can cause physical and/or psychological harm to potential consumers and/or consumers
Receiving advocacy, protection, compensation, and consumer dispute resolution efforts if products and services do not comply with the agreement
Forming a consumer association
Other rights specified in legal regulations

Consumer and Potential Consumer Responsibilities

On the other hand, potential consumers and consumers still have obligations to fulfill in every financial activity. Here are some of the responsibilities of potential consumers and consumers:

Listening to product and service information explanations before purchasing products
Reading, understanding, and implementing agreements correctly
Acting in good faith in using products and services
Providing clear, accurate, true, and non-misleading information and documents
Paying according to agreements with financial services business actors (PUJK)
Participating in consumer protection dispute resolution efforts in accordance with legal regulations

If potential consumers and/or consumers do not fulfill their obligations as mentioned above, according to POJK, businesses have the right to postpone, limit, reject, withhold services, or impose fines according to agreements on potential consumers and/or consumers.

Therefore, as consumers, we still need to exhibit good behavior in every financial or buying/selling activity to receive optimal services. Now, you have a better understanding of consumer protection, right?