Petitioners at judicial review hearing of Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection, Tuesday (5/52026). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – Constitutional Court (MK) held another hearing on judicial review of Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection (Consumer Protection Law) on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The third hearing of Petition No. 86/PUU-XXIV/2026 filed by Bernita Matondang (Petitioner I), Gabby Mayang Sari (Petitioner II), and Evelyn Amanda (Petitioner III) was scheduled to hear statements from the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) and the President/Government.

"Today's hearing is supposed to hear statements from the House of Representatives (DPR) and the President, but the President and DPR representatives have notified the Court that their statements are not yet ready to be presented at today's hearing and have requested a postponement. Therefore, we, the Justices, have agreed to postpone the hearing, with statements to be delivered on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. WIB," explained Chief Justice Suhartoyo in a plenary hearing, presided over by him and accompanied by all constitutional justices, in the Plenary Courtroom, Building 1 of the Court.

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Petitioners Challenge Consumer_Protection Law over Google Play Refund Dispute

Revised Petition on Consumer Protection Law over Google Play's Rejected Refunds

In the Preliminary Examination Hearing on Monday, March 2, 2026, the Petitioners stated that the legal provisions governing the scope of consumer protection, the applicability of standard clauses, access to dispute resolution mechanisms, and the clarity of consumer protection institutions in cross-border digital transaction practices were deemed unable to provide effective legal protection.

As an illustration, Bernita Matondang (Petitioner I) is an active consumer of digital services through the Google Play platform who regularly purchases applications and electronic subscription-based services, thus clearly being a legal subject protected by the Consumer Protection Law. In using these services, Petitioner I experienced the activation of digital subscription services that took place without Petitioner I's conscious will. As a result, funds were automatically deducted from Petitioner I's payment method, resulting in real economic losses in the form of a reduction in Petitioner I's personal property rights.

Therefore, Petitioner I submitted a refund request to the service provider through the Google Play electronic system mechanism. However, the refund request was rejected by the business actor. In Petitioner I's view, this factually shows the validity of a one-sided standard clause in an electronic contract that places consumers in an unbalanced position and opens up the possibility of refusing to refund consumer payments as related to the provisions of Article 18 paragraph (1) letters c and g of the Consumer Protection Law.

Petitioner I then filed a complaint with the Consumer Dispute Resolution Agency (BPSK) on February 12, 2026, which was then responded to on February 13, 2026 and February 18, 2026. However, BPSK stated that it was not authorized to handle the dispute in question because the business actor was outside the jurisdiction of Indonesia. The refusal of authority by BPSK shows that the phrase "business actor" in Article 45 paragraph (1) of the Consumer Protection Law doesn’t cover cross-border digital business actors.

As a result, the right to sue which is normatively granted by law has turned into a right that cannot be implemented in practice, which directly closes access to justice for Petitioner I. Thus, the loss experienced by Petitioner I is not an ordinary contractual loss between consumers and business actors, but rather a constitutional loss that arises directly due to the implementation of the norms of the Consumer Protection Law which have not provided an effective legal protection mechanism for cross-border electronic transactions.

Bernita stated that the development of cross-border digital economic transactions has given rise to increasingly complex legal relationships, including the potential for a reduction in the economic value of citizens through electronic system mechanisms that occur quickly and without direct interaction. In such conditions, protection of private property rights no longer depends solely on the contractual relationship between the parties, but rather on the existence of state legal norms capable of guaranteeing effective mechanisms for the protection and restoration of rights. Therefore, the state has a constitutional obligation to ensure that any reduction in the economic value of citizens in digital transactions is accompanied by a guarantee of real legal protection as mandated by Article 28H paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

Track case No. 86/PUU-XXIV/2026

Author      : Sri Pujianti
Editor       : N. Rosi.
PR           : Tiara Agustina
Translator : Donny Yuniarto

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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