Indonesia's financial regulator, OJK, sets out in Regulation 22/2023 who a debt collector may approach, when and where. On 5 May 2026, OJK consumer protection chief Dicky Kartikoyono told a press briefing that sanctions can accumulate once an examination proves a breach. A month later a viral video from Bekasi showed two men allegedly demanding vehicle papers without identifying themselves and following the owner home. A member of parliament, Abdullah, asked police on 11 June 2026 to establish whether they were collectors at all.
Residents of a Bekasi cluster may meet a quieter version. Someone asks at the gate for a name you have never heard. Letters for a former occupant land in your mailbox. A stranger stands outside the neighbour's house asking when they get home. The rules below tell you what you owe that visitor, which is usually very little.
The Four Limits on Collection
The governing text is Article 62(2) of POJK 22/2023. It binds banks, finance companies and other OJK-licensed providers. Outsourcing does not move the liability: Article 61(5) makes the licensed provider answerable for all effects of its collection partner's work.
| Check | Limit | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Who is billed | Only the consumer who owes the debt | Art. 62(2)(c) |
| When | Monday to Saturday, excluding national holidays, 08.00 to 20.00 local time | Art. 62(2)(f) |
| Where | The billing address or the consumer's domicile | Art. 62(2)(e) |
| How | No threats, violence, physical or verbal pressure, or humiliation | Art. 62(2)(a) and (b) |
Collection outside those places or hours needs the consumer's prior consent or agreement under Article 62(3). The official elucidation of letter (d) defines "continuous" collection as more than three times in one day. Collection on a Sunday night is outside the rules unless the borrower agreed to it beforehand, and that consent never permits threats or pressure.
When They Want the Previous Occupant
This can happen to resale buyers and tenants. Your address may still sit in a lender's file as the billing address, so a first visit is not automatically a breach. On our reading, letter (c) is breached if the collector asks you to pay, and repeat visits after you have explained are worth reporting.
- Talk at the gate. You do not need to invite anyone in.
- Ask for the collector's name, company and the lender that assigned the case. detikFinance (30 May 2026) reports that collectors working with a lending platform must use an official photo ID.
- State that the person does not live here. You are not required to show documents. Proof such as a lease can go to the lender once the collector's identity is clear.
- Email the lender with your address and a statement that the named person does not live there. Keep the reply.
- Log the date, time and collector's name for every repeat visit.
A wrong address will not fix itself. Until the record changes, another collector can simply be sent. A new home from a developer carries no occupant history. Resale buyers should ask the seller for a written statement that no debt uses that address, at the same time as they check unpaid land tax before the title transfer.
When They Want Your Neighbour
You are not the consumer, so you have no duty to answer, pass on a message or reveal when your neighbour gets home. The security guard stands in the same position. "Please contact them directly" is a complete answer.
Keep it out of the residents' chat as well. The elucidation of Article 62(2)(a) targets collection that spreads news of a late payment to the consumer's phone contacts, but a post about a neighbour's debt can come back on the person who wrote it, as our piece on complaints in cluster WhatsApp groups explains. If the visitor lingers and causes a disturbance, hand it to the guard under the cluster's security arrangements.
When They Want the Car in Your Carport
Article 64 sets three cumulative conditions before a lender may repossess collateral. The consumer must be proven in default, must have received a warning letter, and the lender must hold a fiduciary security certificate. Default is proven by a written agreement that includes voluntary surrender, by a ruling of a court or the financial-sector dispute body (LAPS), or by another mechanism under the law. Every repossession must be recorded in an official report.
Ask for those documents before handing over any keys. If the vehicle was bought second-hand or through an informal credit takeover, first check whether it is still registered as fiduciary collateral. If it is in your name, the debt is not yours and no fiduciary security burdens it, say clearly that it will not be surrendered, and call the police if they use force. The elucidation of Article 62 also lists seizing collateral in a public place as an example of humiliating the consumer.
When It Becomes a Police Matter
OJK handles breaches of its regulation. Forcing and threatening fall under criminal law, which since 2 January 2026 means Law 1/2023, the new Criminal Code. Article 257(1) covers anyone who unlawfully forces entry into a home or enclosed yard, or is unlawfully inside and does not leave at once when asked, with up to one year in prison or a fine of up to Rp10 million. The penalty rises to two years or Rp50 million if the person makes threats (paragraph 3), and paragraph 4 increases it further when two or more people act together. The elucidation defines forcing entry as entering against the stated wishes of the rightful occupant, and an enclosed yard as one with clear boundaries such as a fence. So state clearly that they may not enter, and record it. An unfenced carport may be a weaker case.
Article 448(1) covers coercion by violence or threat of violence, also up to one year or a fine of up to Rp10 million. If things heat up, call 110 or the 112 emergency line, and keep your CCTV running.
Reporting to OJK
The channels listed by detikFinance are phone 157, [email protected] and kontak157.ojk.go.id. Include the lender's name, the collector's name, dates, times, recordings and a statement that you are not the consumer. Sanctions under Article 62(4) to (6) run from a written warning to revocation of the business licence, with fines of up to Rp15 billion, and heavier sanctions need no prior warning.
One limit matters here. The regulation binds OJK-licensed firms only. If the collector represents an illegal lender, or cannot name a lender at all, go to the police. The approach resembles the fake utility officers who rely on a resident's politeness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a debt collector come to my house on a Sunday in Indonesia?
No, unless the consumer agreed to it beforehand. POJK 22/2023 Article 62 limits collection to Monday through Saturday, excluding national holidays, from 08.00 to 20.00 local time.
Do new occupants have to pay the previous occupant's debt?
No. Article 62(2)(c) bars collection from anyone other than the consumer. Tell the collector the person does not live at your address and ask the lender in writing to correct its records.
Can a collector take a car without paperwork?
Article 64 requires proven default, a prior warning letter and a fiduciary security certificate held by the lender. The repossession must also be recorded in an official report.
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Ask on WhatsAppReferences: POJK 22/2023 Articles 60-64 and elucidation (ojk.go.id); Law 1/2023 on the Criminal Code, Articles 79, 257 and 448; DPR RI Parlementaria 11 June 2026; detikFinance 30 May 2026; CNBC Indonesia 5 May 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, consult an advocate or legal aid organisation.