给电商平台“乱收费”踩刹车？印尼拟出台新规限制平台费率上涨动作

This article outlines the core details of a new Indonesian regulation designed to standardize fee practices on major e-commerce platforms and protect micro, small and medium-sized (MSME) sellers:

1. Drafted by Indonesia’s Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the regulation targets leading platforms including TikTok Shop and Shopee. It has completed inter-agency legal coordination and is awaiting official promulgation by the State Secretariat.

2. Key requirements include: a mandatory one-year minimum term for all platform-seller cooperation contracts, a ban on unauthorized service fee or commission hikes during the contract term, and a requirement for all fee adjustments to be notified to sellers three months in advance to allow for business adjustments.

3. The regulation will streamline all miscellaneous platform fees into three standardized categories: registration fees, service fees and promotional fees. It also encourages platforms to offer MSMEs and sellers of local Indonesian products up to a 50% discount on service fees. The government has built a dedicated digital monitoring system to connect with platforms, which is currently in the pilot stage.

This new e-commerce fee regulation in Indonesia brings multiple benefits and key takeaways for brands operating or expanding in the Indonesian market:

1. It reduces uncertainty around channel costs for brands. With fixed rates during the one-year contract term and a mandatory three-month advance notification for any adjustments, brands can conduct long-term pricing planning and cost budgeting more easily, eliminating the profit compression caused by frequent unexpected fee hikes from platforms in the past.

2. Standardizing and simplifying fee categories resolves the issue of inconsistent, confusing pricing rules across different platforms that made cost accounting difficult. This makes it easier for brands to compare channel investments across platforms and select the partners that best fit their business.

3. The regulation’s mandate to encourage up to 50% service fee discounts for MSMEs and local product sellers allows small and medium-sized brands and local Indonesian brands to lower operating costs through this incentive, improve the price competitiveness of their products, and compete more effectively against larger brands.

This new regulation has a direct impact on the interests of e-commerce sellers operating in Indonesia. Below are the core takeaways and key reminders:

1. Core policy content: The regulation explicitly bans platforms from unilaterally implementing sudden hikes to service fees or commissions. It requires a mandatory one-year minimum term for all platform-seller cooperation contracts, bans unauthorized rate adjustments during the contract term, and requires all fee changes to be notified three months in advance to give sellers sufficient time to adapt.

2. Benefits and opportunities: Streamlining all complex fees into three standardized categories resolves the problem of convoluted pricing structures and makes it easier for sellers to calculate operating costs. The policy’s encouragement of up to 50% service fee discounts for MSMEs effectively reduces the operating burden on small and medium sellers, and eases the cash flow and profit pressure brought by frequent platform fee hikes in recent years.

3. Risks and reminders: The regulation has completed legal coordination and is awaiting official promulgation, and the government’s dedicated monitoring system is already in pilot operation, meaning policy implementation is well-supported. Sellers should monitor for updates on the official rollout and prepare their cost planning in advance.

This new Indonesian e-commerce regulation offers valuable insights for factories targeting the Indonesian market, with key takeaways outlined below:

1. Business opportunities: By standardizing platform fee practices and protecting MSME sellers, the Indonesian government is improving the overall e-commerce business environment. For factories looking to enter the Indonesian market or expand local e-commerce channels, the policy reduces uncertainty around channel cooperation, making it easier to lay out long-term business plans and develop the local Indonesian market.

2. Policy dividends: The regulation explicitly encourages platforms to offer up to 50% service fee discounts to sellers of local Indonesian products. Factories that pursue localized production and sales in Indonesia, as well as existing local Indonesian factories, can leverage this policy incentive to cut end-to-end sales costs and improve the market competitiveness of their products.

3. Insights for transformation: The regulation pushes Indonesia’s e-commerce ecosystem toward a more balanced structure, reducing the risk for factories pursuing digital transformation and direct integration with e-commerce channels. It signals that factories can seize this current policy window to partner with local MSME sellers or build out direct platform sales channels, and further expand their market share.

This new regulation signals a new development trend in Indonesia’s e-commerce industry, with core takeaways for service providers serving the Indonesian market outlined below:

1. Industry development trend: Over the past few years, leading Indonesian e-commerce platforms have repeatedly raised commission rates and added new fee types, increasing seller burden and fueling tensions between platforms and sellers. The government’s intervention to standardize fee practices indicates that Indonesia’s e-commerce sector is shifting from a platform-dominated model to a more balanced ecosystem between platforms and sellers, and the share of MSME sellers in the market will continue to grow going forward.

2. Shifting client pain points: Previously, sellers’ core pain points stemmed from convoluted fee structures and frequent rate adjustments that complicated cost accounting and compressed profit margins. While the regulation addresses some of these issues, it also creates new demand for third-party services.

3. New business opportunities: Service providers can develop supporting services targeted at MSME sellers, including cost accounting and contract compliance review. They can also leverage the opportunity created by the government’s new digital monitoring system to pursue relevant technical service contracts, and expand their client base and business scope.

This new regulation sets out clear regulatory requirements for e-commerce platforms already operating or planning to enter the Indonesian market, with key details outlined below:

1. Clear compliance requirements: The regulation mandates a one-year minimum term for all platform-seller cooperation contracts, bans unauthorized rate hikes during the contract term, and requires all fee adjustments to be notified to sellers three months in advance. All fee items must be consolidated into three standardized categories: registration fees, service fees, and promotional fees, with no uncategorized miscellaneous fees allowed. Platforms are also required to offer preferential rates to MSMEs and local product sellers in line with the policy.

2. Notes on regulatory enforcement: The government will directly connect with major platforms via its newly developed SAPA UMKM digital monitoring system to conduct real-time oversight of policy compliance. The system is already in pilot operation across multiple regions and will be rolled out nationwide, ensuring enforcement of the regulation.

3. Risk reminders: Frequent rate adjustments by platforms in the past have already triggered seller discontent and public backlash. After the regulation takes effect, unauthorized fee adjustments will face clear regulatory penalties. Platforms need to adjust their existing pricing strategies to balance their own revenue with seller interests, audit existing rules to complete compliance upgrades, and mitigate compliance risks.

This new e-commerce fee regulation in Indonesia represents an important new development in the evolution of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce sector, with key insights for researchers outlined below:

1. New industry development: After years of rapid growth, Southeast Asia’s e-commerce sector has increasingly exposed structural imbalances in its distribution channels: channel-dominant platforms hold disproportionate power, and frequent rate hikes have compressed MSME seller profits and fueled industry-wide tensions. Indonesia is the first in the region to introduce targeted regulatory legislation to reshape the industry structure, making this a highly notable industrial event for research.

2. Institutional design of the regulation: The new rule establishes a complete regulatory framework, including a one-year minimum contract term, mandatory three-month advance notification for price adjustments, standardized fee categorization, incentives for discounted rates for eligible sellers, and a dedicated digital monitoring system for dynamic oversight. The regulation’s clear design framework makes it a highly valuable case for applied research.

3. Research implications: The regulation attempts to rebalance the asymmetric power relationship between platforms and MSMEs, and check the dominant market power of large platforms. It provides a researchable real-world case for other markets around the world seeking to standardize fee practices of large digital platforms and protect MSMEs, and also offers an entirely new sample for research on the evolution of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce ecosystem.