PKS Politician: PCR Business Is Tempting, The Market Must Be There During The Pandemic

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VIII of the DPR, Bukhori, suspects that there are indications of business competition in the mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requirement for travelers. This can be seen from the proliferation of PCR test service providers in a number of places by offering layered prices, depending on the speed of test results.

And actually the PCR test business has violated the provisions of the Highest Retail Price (HET) set by the Ministry of Health, namely Rp.495,000 (Java and Bali) and Rp.525 thousand (outside Java and Bali). They dared to charge more than HET with the excuse of 'express PCR'.

"The prices offered start from Rp. 650 thousand, Rp. 750 thousand, Rp. 900 thousand, to Rp. 1.5 million," said Bukhori in a written statement, Thursday, October 28.

This PKS politician said that since March 2020 the government has also provided fiscal incentives for the import of goods in the form of medical devices for handling the pandemic. The types of goods related to the PCR test mechanism that receive customs incentives include PCR Test Reagents, Swabs, Virus Transfer Media, and In Vitro Diagnostic Equipment.

For the PCR test reagent itself, the total exemption from Import Duty (BM) and Import Taxes (PDRI) which has been granted for the period January 1 to August 14, 2021 is Rp. 366.76 billion, which consists of fiscal facilities in the form of exemption from BM in the amount of Rp. 107 billion. , VAT was not collected in the amount of Rp. 193 billion, and Income Tax Article 22 was exempted from levies of Rp. 66 billion.

Meanwhile, the realization of the provision of facilities for the period from 2021 to July, the total value of the fiscal incentives that have been given is Rp. 799 billion from the value of imported goods of Rp. 4 trillion.

"The PCR test business has proven to be very lucrative. The market is always there during the pandemic and the procurement of imported goods is supported by government incentives. Data shows that non-governmental corporate groups hold 77.16 percent of the importation of medical devices for handling the pandemic in the country. Meanwhile, the government only holds 16.67 percent of the total import activity of medical devices for the handling of Covid-19," explained the legislator from the Central Java I electoral district (dapil) quoted from the DPR's official website.

Bukhori noted that in a report submitted by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) there was a circulation of money from the PCR test business from October 2020 to August 2021, which was estimated to reach Rp. 23.2 trillion. From this value, ICW said that PCR test service entrepreneurs could make a profit of up to Rp. 10.46 trillion. This ICW calculation is based on the start of the implementation of the highest PCR test rate of IDR 900 thousand in October 2020 until the new tariff of IDR 495-525 thousand is implemented in August 2021.