Your Legal Rights
Your rights, and who has to listen
Indonesian consumer law is more protective than most tenants realise, and the enforcement bodies are free to approach. The obstacle is almost never the law — it is that most people never find out these routes exist.
The law that applies
Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection (Undang-Undang Perlindungan Konsumen) governs this relationship. It gives consumers the right to accurate and honest information about a service, the right to have complaints heard and resolved, the right to compensation where a service does not match what was agreed, and the right to advocacy and legal protection. A rental platform holding a deposit is a business actor under this law, with obligations that follow from it.
Where to take a complaint
- BPKN — Badan Perlindungan Konsumen Nasional
- The National Consumer Protection Agency. Advises government on consumer matters and receives complaints directly. A filed complaint creates an official record that exists independently of the company.
- BPSK — Badan Penyelesaian Sengketa Konsumen
- The Consumer Dispute Settlement Body, operating at city and regency level. Hears consumer disputes through mediation, conciliation or arbitration, without requiring a lawyer, and issues binding decisions. For a withheld deposit this is usually the strongest practical route.
- YLKI — Yayasan Lembaga Konsumen Indonesia
- The Indonesian Consumers Foundation. An independent NGO with real media reach; it has a track record of pushing company responses that individual complaints do not achieve.
- LAPOR! — lapor.go.id
- The national public complaint portal, routing complaints to the responsible ministry or agency and tracking the response. Free, online, and it produces a reference number.
- MediaKonsumen
- An Indonesian consumer letters publication that has published multiple Travelio deposit complaints since 2021. Companies frequently respond publicly there when they will not respond privately.
If you are a foreign resident
Consumer protection law in Indonesia applies to you regardless of nationality or visa status, and BPSK does not require Indonesian citizenship. Two practical points: keep your correspondence in Bahasa Indonesia where you can, as it moves faster and removes an easy excuse for delay, and be aware that a deposit denominated in rupiah but paid from a foreign account is exactly the situation in which the name-mismatch objection has been raised. Document the payment route at the time you pay it.