The Job Creation Law Able to Eliminate Illegal Fees in Business Permits
By: Ahmad Dzul Ilmi Muis)*
The Job Creation Law (UU Ciptaker) which has been officially stipulated by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the DPR RI has indeed been able to cut all existing bureaucracy, so that it is able to eliminate the practice of illegal levies (pungli), especially in business permits when people want to establish or build a new business.
The enactment of a Government Regulation in lieu of a Job Creation Law (Perrpu) is a manifestation and effort of implementing the constitution on the attribute authority possessed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), which is also stated in Article 22 of the Law The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
It should be noted that in Article 22 of the 1945 Constitution, it is expressly stated that in the event of a compelling emergency, the President of the Republic of Indonesia has the right to be able to issue government regulations in lieu of laws. Then, the government regulation must obtain approval from the House of Representatives (DPR RI) in court, and if it has received approval, the government regulation must later be revoked and formally stipulated as an applicable law.
It is very clear that in the creation of the Perppu which was signed directly by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), there must have been a matter of urgency first. So in the context of the formation of the Job Creation Law itself, previously it was in the form of a Job Creation Perppu, which has answered the existence of a compelling crisis.
In this regard, the Coordinating Minister (Menko) for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto explained that the signing of the Job Creation Perppu by President Jokowi was due to an urgent matter. How could it not be, because at that time the economy in Indonesia itself would face a big threat, namely the existence of a global recession and also the uncertainty that was still very high enveloping the world economy.
Therefore, due to the threat of a global recession and also the uncertainty of the world economy, it is necessary for the Government of Indonesia itself to immediately accelerate efforts to anticipate global conditions, both related to the economy being able to face a global recession, the threat of rising inflation to the threat of stagflation.
Then in the Plenary Session of the DPR RI related to the Level II Discussion on Decision Making regarding the Bill on the Determination of the Perppu on Job Creation to become a Law (UU) on March 21, 2023, a decision was made that the Legislative Body (Baleg) of the DPR RI had approved the Perppu Cipta Work to be enacted into law.
With the passing of the Job Creation Perppu into the Job Creation Law, according to President Jokowi, he will be able to further support efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption.
With the existence of the Job Creation Law, the public must comply with it, which has greatly simplified it by trimming and continuing to integrate into the electronic licensing system related to business permits that the community wants to do. Therefore, the existence of illegal levies (pungli) can be eliminated.
Not only to cut the bureaucracy which is considered too complicated when people just want to apply for a business permit, but the Job Creation Law also makes it easier for the community, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be able to open new businesses.
This is because so far the practice regarding permits to open a business in Indonesia still has a lot of regulations, which even among the regulations themselves overlap and many consider the procedures too complicated, especially for the benefit of opening a new business.
Given these facts, the Government is really trying to cut all the existing bureaucracy, so that business licensing for MSMEs is no longer needed and they only need to register. In addition, for people who want to establish a Limited Liability Company (PT) it has also become even easier.
It’s easy to set up a PT, even in the current era of President Joko Widodo’s administration, there are absolutely no more minimum capital restrictions. Then furthermore, another convenience that has been obtained by the community after the passage of the Job Creation Law is that for MSMEs engaged in the food and beverage sector, the halal certification has been financed by the Government.
This also includes fishing boat permits to catch fish, now people no longer need to apply to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) and other agencies. Because now it’s enough for the community to just come to the KKP work unit.
The practice of extortion when trying to apply for a business permit has been a scourge for business actors, especially the public. Therefore, the Government of Indonesia passed the Job Creation Law, which proved to be very effective in cutting the entire bureaucracy and eliminating the practice of extortion.
)* The author is an Alumni of FISIP Unair