Indonesia’s trade minister hints at potential further overhauls to e-commerce rules as the sector rapidly evolves, prioritising platform transparency, seller protection, and support for MSMEs in a flexible regulatory environment.
Indonesia’s trade minister has left the door open to another overhaul of e-commerce rules, saying the regulation must stay flexible as the digital commerce market evolves. Budi Santoso said the Ministry of Trade has already updated the framework for electronic trading through Ministerial Regulation No. 19 of 2026, but added that further changes would be made if the sector requires them.
Speaking at a House of Representatives Commission VI working session in Jakarta on Thursday, 17 September 2026, Mr Budi said the ministry treats the regulation as a living instrument rather than a fixed text. He said any fresh development in the digital trading ecosystem could justify another revision, a view that reflects the government’s broader effort to keep pace with rapid changes in platform-based commerce.
The remarks came in response to lawmakers’ concerns about seller protection on digital platforms, including how long merchants’ funds can be withheld, why shops are suspended, and whether sellers have a clear route to challenge such decisions. The issue has become more significant as online marketplaces take a larger share of retail activity and sellers increasingly depend on platform rules they do not control.
According to the Ministry of Trade, the recent revision of the e-commerce framework is meant to improve the visibility of domestic products, simplify compliance for business operators, strengthen transparency in platform partnerships, reinforce consumer protection, and improve the governance of digital technology, including artificial intelligence-related use cases. The ministry has also said it wants to support micro and small enterprises by pushing platforms to give priority to local products and by building closer coordination between marketplaces and MSMEs.
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