Threatening Economic And Family Resilience, Puan Asks The Government To Improve Pinjol Regulations

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani/PHOTO via Instagram @ketua_dprri

JAKARTA - DPR Speaker Puan Maharani asked the government to strictly improve and regulate online loan regulations (pinjol). This is to protect the public from loans that threaten family resilience and economic resilience.

The THREAT of borrowing in Indonesia has had a huge socio-economic impact on society. Even to the criminal realm or crime," said Puan, Monday, December 16.

Puan also highlighted the heartbreaking incident that happened to a family in Kediri, where they tried to commit suicide together because they were caught in debt. Although 3 family members are still alive, namely father, mother, and eldest child, the youngest child who is still a toddler died in this incident.

"The incident in Kediri is really very sad. Especially for the death of an innocent toddler," said Puan.

Puan said that a family in Kediri is one example of how cruel the entanglement is.

Kita tahu sudah banyak peristiwa ini yang terjadi karena pinjol. Ini menjadi panasan bagaimana kejeratan pinjol dapat menghancurkan keluarga-luarga yang terbukti secara ekonomi dan psikologis," sambung Puan.

Therefore, Puan asked the government to immediately take serious action in protecting the public from the snares of borrowing and economic pressure.

"The state must take extra steps to overcome the problem of borrowing, especially illegal loans that are very detrimental to the community because of unreasonable debt interest, thus increasing the burden on users of the service," he said.

Puan also highlighted data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) which showed that 18.07 million people in Indonesia were caught in the loan as of December 2023. Of the total active borrowers, 73.34 percent were known to come from the island of Java, while 26.66 percent came from islands outside Java.

By looking at the data, Puan urged the Government to expand social assistance, create access to safe financing, and regulate lending regulations. He hopes that these efforts can prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future and ensure people's welfare more evenly.

"The government must act immediately to protect the public with a more comprehensive and sustainable approach," said Puan.

On the other hand, the PDIP legislator for the Central Java electoral district encouraged the government to expand and strengthen social assistance programs. Puan said that assistance from the state can reduce the burden on the community, especially families with low economics.

"Such as programs such as Direct Cash Assistance (BLT), Pre-Employment Cards, and food subsidies must be increased in order to reach people who need them the most," he said.

"This social assistance not only helps the community in meeting basic needs, but also prevents them from being forced to take high-interesting debts," added Puan.