Jakarta, IO – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) head of consumer education and protection Friderica Widyasari Dewi said that Law 4/2023 on financial sector development and strengthening (PPSK) stipulates that illegal P2P lending platforms that deliberately harm consumers can face imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine from Rp1 billion to a maximum of Rp1 trillion. It is hoped that this regulation can act as a deterrent to illegal lenders.
“We also need to convey that fraudulent online loan (pinjol) used to be categorized as a general crime, but now through the PPSK Law it has been categorized as special offenses. We are consolidating with 16 task forces from the ministries/agencies,” she said, per detikcom, Tue (12/12).
Furthermore, Task Force for Eradicating Illegal Financial Activities (Satgas Pasti) head Sarjito explained that his party hopes that the designation as special offenses will prevent online lending platforms that have been blocked from reemerging due to the public’s low financial literacy.
He pointed out to a case where one borrower could apply for 40 loans from different platforms in one day. Sarjito said this was possible because illegal loans do not have an integrated database such as the OJK’s Financial Information Services System (SLIK) or fintech lending data center (Pusdafil).
“If the loan is taken out from a licensed lender, we can protect the consumers easily, but there are people who really like to make easy money. But they report it only when they encounter a problem,” he added.
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As of November 2023, the Task Force has blocked 1,623 illegal pinjol. OJK said illegal pinjols continued to reappear even though they have been blocked because the demand for loans is still high in the society.
Sarjito said that officially-registered fintech lender tend to be stricter in their loan approval process because they have to follow the Know Your Customer (eKYC) requirements. (rr)