The KPPU scheduled the next hearing for Nov. 3, 2025.
The antitrust trial on online lending in Indonesia continued this week, with two online borrowers as well as an executive of the Indonesian Joint Funding Fintech Association, AFPI, contradicting allegations by investigators from the Indonesian Competition Commission of a lending rate cartel.
At the hearing on last Thursday, online lender PT Indosaku Digital Teknologi presented two witnesses who had borrowed from its online service — consumer Cindy Handiono Joewono, and coffee shop owner Dhimas Priaji.
Investigators from the Indonesian Competition Commission, or KPPU, earlier charged 97 online lenders — all AFPI members — with colluding to impose a daily rate cap of 0.8 percent between October 2018 and March 2024, exceeding the 0.3 percent ceiling later set by OJK.
The commissioners' questions at the hearing on Tuesday and Thursday focused on how the association and its members determined the maximum daily rates.
Article 5 of Indonesia’s 1999 competition law prohibits competitors from agreeing on prices for goods or services in the same market. The antitrust investigators had said earlier that there was “adequate evidence” that the online lenders had breached this provision.
During the hearing the two witnesses were questioned by antitrust commissioners on the loan mechanism, interest rate level and other issues. Both Handiono and Priaji testified that before applying for an online loan, they researched providers and found that companies were offering different interest rates.
Priaji said Indosaku had a competitive rate compared with other online lenders. Meanwhile, Joewono said she took out a loan with Indosaku during the Covid-19 pandemic when online lenders had simplified their procedures.
Early on Tuesday, the head of the AFPI Entjik S. Djafar repeated the association’s standpoint that there had never been an agreement among peer-to-peer lenders or online lenders to set interest rates in 2018. The interest rate cap was was based on the direction of the Financial Services Authority.
In response to questions from the commissioners, Entjik said the Financial Services Authority had issued a directive to set a maximum daily rate maximum limit of 0.8 percent to clearly differentiate the legal online lenders from illegal ones, which set high daily rates.
"There was no intention or agreement among members to set this interest rate, as it is more commercially profitable without a limit. Setting this maximum economic benefit limit actually forces members to sacrifice the opportunity to earn even greater profits; in other words, this regulation is frankly detrimental to members,"
he added.
Entjik also noted challenges the online lending industry still faces due to the rise of illegal online lending. He cited data showing that from 2017 to March 13, 2025, a special task force formed by the Indonesian Financial Services Authority, or OJK, with the support of the association, shut down as many as 10,733 illegal online lending and personal loan entities.
“To that end, AFPI is collaborating with the Investment Alert Task Force in enforcement efforts and public education,”
Entjik added.
The head of the antitrust commissioners for the online lender case, Rhido Jusmadi, said on Tuesday that the case is part of the antitrust regulator’s move to supervise the online lending industry and ensure that healthy competition is implemented.
The antitrust regulator, he said, aims to protect consumers from irregular practices by online lenders that may harm consumers.
Given the large number of defendants in the case, the hearing is being held outside the KPPU complex in a navy hall in north Jakarta. Thursday's hearing was the third hearing held at the venue.
Source: MLex
