As many Indonesians could tell you, the hardest thing about getting a driver’s license (SIM) here is not having to take the driver’s test (hah) but paying all of the unofficial “fees” needed to actually get your SIM in any kind of timely manner. Those fees quickly add up, as the recent bust of former Kediri Police Chief Erick Hermawan revealed.
Erick was arrested on Saturday as part of a sting operation conducted by the National Police’s Saber Pungli (anti-bribery) task force. The former police chief, who has been removed from his post pending charges, is said to have received IDR40-50 million (USD2,700-3,400) per week from the illegal fees charged to SIM applicants.
In addition to Erick’s weekly “bonus”, the illegal SIM fees also flowed to other officials in the district, including IDR10-15 million to the head of the Kediri Police Traffic Unit.
East Java Police spokesperson Frans Barung Mangera said task force officers first arrested a number of “agents” and a civil servant who served as intermediaries between them and the police. The investigation was initiated after police received reports from local residents who said they had to pay illegal fees ranging from IDR500,000-650,000 in order to receive their SIMs.
The National Police’s Internal Affairs (Propam) chief confirmed the arrest but said that the exact charges that will be faced by those involved in the bribery scheme were still being processed.
“Yes, it is true (the former Kediri police chief) is proven to have taken the bribes. He is being processed for professional and ethical violations. We will now proceed to further investigate these violations and his position in the police will be evaluated,” Propam Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said on Tuesday as quoted by BeritaSatu.
“This is a lesson to all. Don’t do something that is detrimental to the honor of the institution. This is only a handful of people. The majority of the police work hard to serve the community,” Sigit added.
Illegal fees levied by civil servants and the police are a regular issue faced by Indonesians wanting to get government services. A 2017 Transparency International survey found that 40% of Indonesian respondents considered the police corrupt.