The Ministry Of Transportation Will Distinguish KRL Tariffs For The Rich And Poor In 2023, How Does It Implement?

Illustration of electric rail trains (Photo: Doc. Antara).

YOGYAKARTA The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) will differentiate the tariffs for the Electric Rail Train (KRL) for the poor and rich.

This difference is needed to adjust the amount of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) subsidy to ensure that the KRL tariff remains affordable by the underprivileged, but on the other hand, the service can continue to run well.

So far, the price of KRL tickets which has been enforced is 55 percent subsidized by the government, and the remaining 45 percent is borne by passengers.

In this regard, the Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi ensured that passengers who could afford it would be subject to different rates.

"So what has been proposed is nothing, (registrated with high financial capacity) we have to pay another (no subsidy). So until 2023 we plan not to increase," he said in a press conference at the Ministry of Transportation's End of Year, 2022 Performance Achievements and Work Plans of the Ministry of Transportation 2023, Tuesday, December 27, according to VOI.

Budi Karya said, a proper scheme is needed so that subsidies are right on target.

One way is that there will be a new card issued to differentiate the profile of the KRL passenger.

This is done so that passengers whose economy is classified as capable do not participate in enjoying subsidies because the original KRL tariff is currently above IDR 10,000.

"If all subsidies are finally obtained for people in need, for example in Jakarta we use KRL only (around) IDR 4,000, the cost may be IDR 10-15.000 actually," said Budi Karya.

Even so, the Minister of Transportation still has not specified the price of KRL tickets that will be pegged for the wealthy. Budi Karya only said that the government will determine which groups of people are capable and which ones need to be subsidized.

Implementation of Differences in Work and Poor KRL

Meanwhile, the Director General of Railways, Risal Wasal, said the government would implement a proper subsidy mechanism in which there would be a classification of passenger capabilities.

He said the Directorate General of Railways would use data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) to find out who was entitled to receive the subsidy.

Risal added that those who are considered financially capable will still pay according to the tariff that should be paid.

"That subsidy is appropriate. It doesn't go up, but we use the data in the Ministry of Home Affairs. So the 'rich' ones pay according to the original price. And the underprivileged receive subsidies," he said.

Risal admitted that the plan would go as planned. He also ensured that there would be no disturbances faced by passengers.

"We hope this is not complicated. Just trust our data," he said.

Risal, the right subsidy plan will be implemented in the middle of 2023.

"At the slowest in the middle of the semester after the inauguration-official activities. But if we can speed it up, we will accelerate it," he said.

That is the information regarding the difference in KRL rates for the rich and the poor. The difference in KRL rates is intended so that subsidies can be enjoyed by the right people.