Lesson Learned! Tokopedia Will Permanently Close Shops Selling COVID-19 Therapeutic Drugs At Exorbitant Prices

Tokopedia continues to inspect through naughty sellers. (Asia Today)

JAKARTA - Over the past few weeks, Indonesia has faced an increasing number of positive COVID-19 patients. Based on the latest count, the number of active COVID-19 cases reached 27,000 per day. This makes the government set an Emergency PPKM (Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities) from 3 to 20 July.

The unstoppable addition of daily cases makes the public anxious. Finally, the impact on the price of therapeutic drugs and vitamins soared without control.

To overcome this condition, the government through the Ministry of Health issued a Minister of Health decree number HK.1.7/Menkes/4826 of 2021. Signed last July 2, the decree regulates the highest retail price (HET) of 11 drugs that are widely used as a treatment for coronavirus infections.

“HET applies in pharmacies, pharmacy installations, hospitals, clinics, and health facilities throughout Indonesia. This decision is to ensure that people can buy medicines at affordable prices. Those who violate will be dealt with firmly,” said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Sunday, July 4.

Permanently Close Store

Fortunately, the government's decision was welcomed by companies that provide e-commerce services. One of them is Tokopedia.

Tokopedia founder and CEO William Tanuwijaya revealed that so far the platform has established a price control policy. Not only that, but William also emphasized that his party has taken firm action against sellers who set product prices at unreasonable prices.

"We also continue to urge sellers to continue to jointly maintain prices, as well as to the public not to make efforts to hoard," he explained.

Furthermore, William stated that basically, the Tokopedia platform is user-generated content (UGC). Each party can upload their own products on the online store platform which has just merged with Gojek independently.

Even so, Tokopedia continues to take cooperative steps. This is so that the platform can comply with applicable laws.

"If a seller is proven to have violated both the platform's terms and conditions as well as the applicable law, Tokopedia has the right to take firm action by conducting inspections, delaying or downgrading content, banning stores or accounts, and other actions according to procedures," said William.

The public can also participate in creating a more friendly and law-abiding Tokopedia environment. There is a 'Report Abuse' feature that can be used to report products or stores that are considered to have violated the rules.