OJK Reminds BP Tapera Not To Repeat Jiwasraya's Mistakes

Chairman of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Wimboh Santoso. (Photo: OJK)

JAKARTA - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) advises the Public Housing Savings Management Agency (BP Tapera) to apply the principles appropriate to an institution that is responsible for carrying out its role. This follows the issuance of Government Regulation Number 25 Year 2020 by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

As planned, BP Tapera will start applying contributions to workers in 2021. However, this will be done gradually. The first stage, the Tapera fee obligation will apply to Civil Servants (PNS), police and soldiers. The second stage, the contribution obligation applies to BUMN employees and the last is private companies and independent participants.

Chairman of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Wimboh Santoso said the provision of advice was intended so that BP Tapera would not experience difficulties in managing the accumulation of funds as had happened to several financial institutions before. One of them is the failure to pay PT Asuransi Jiwasraya (Persero).

"In Tapera, the principles are the same as other financial institutions. We still have to apply the principles of governance and all policies that have been set by the government," he said in a video conference with journalists, Thursday, June 4.

According to Wimboh, management of public funds in a transparent and accountable manner should be carried out by all financial institutions in Indonesia. This was of course done so that mistrust in the community would not arise.

Wimboh also reminded BP Tapera about the initial objectives of this program. He asked that the disbursement of participant funds not be made difficult, especially to buy a house.

"The principles of governance like other financial institutions must be met. That is what must be done in Tapera. Not only Tapera, to any financial institution it must be done," he explained.

Wimboh said the current government has provided a large enough incentive to expand the Tapera program to all workers. So that the interest rates will be cheap.

As is known, President Joko Widodo issued Government Regulation (PP) Number 25 of 2020 concerning the Implementation of Public Housing Savings (Tapera). In this regulation, all workers are required to take part in the Tapera program. However, only those with a maximum income of IDR 8 million can apply for a house purchase.

BP Tapera will start collecting contributions in 2021. Tapera contributions are collected at 3 percent of total wages, with the details of 0.5 percent borne by the employer and 2.5 percent borne by workers who are deducted from their wages. Especially for independent participants, the fees are paid by themselves.

Participation in BP Tapera will end if the worker has retired, namely the age of 58 years. Later, after retiring, participants can get their savings and proceeds from development funds that are placed in bank deposits, government debt securities, and other investments.