Komdigi and Provider Collaboration Strengthens Digital Oversight of Social Assistance Funds
Jakarta — The government continues to strengthen oversight of social assistance (Bansos) distribution to ensure it is more targeted and free from misuse, particularly for illegal activities such as online gambling. The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos), in collaboration with several parties, is building a technology-based social assistance fund monitoring ecosystem and cross-sector collaboration.
Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf (Gus Ipul) stated that collaboration with Bank Indonesia (BI) is necessary so the government can identify unusual balances in the accounts of social assistance recipients and ensure that aid is distributed to those who truly need it.
“Now we will work with BI to review, explore, and analyze the accounts of social assistance recipients, and we will check their balances,” said Gus Ipul.
Through this collaboration with BI, the Ministry of Social Affairs hopes to analyze the flow of social assistance funds and detect any unusual balances. The goal is to prevent aid funds from being misused for illegal activities and ensure that they truly benefit the beneficiary families.
The Ministry of Social Affairs is also coordinating with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to tighten oversight of social assistance (Bansos) distribution, including utilizing a single data source from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) to ensure that aid is more accurately targeted.
Previously, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) discovered that more than 10 million social assistance (Bansos) recipient accounts had been inactive for more than three years, with total funds remaining at Rp 2.1 trillion. This finding indicates that the distribution of social assistance has not been fully targeted and is at risk of misuse.
The findings are the result of an analysis of bank account data collected by PPATK. In addition to social assistance accounts, PPATK also recorded more than 140,000 dormant accounts for more than 10 years, with a value reaching Rp 428.6 billion, without updated customer data.
“Inactive accounts open up significant opportunities for money laundering and other crimes,” said M. Natsir Kongah, Coordinator of the PPATK Public Relations Substance Group, in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Communication and Informatics Office (Diskominfo) of Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Budi Santosa, emphasized that he would collaborate with Wi-Fi providers to track the use of social assistance (Bansos) funds. His office will request periodic reporting on internet network usage and users provided by providers. Through this regular tracking and monitoring, it is hoped that Social Assistance will be used effectively.
“We need to know what the internet network is being used for and who its users are. We ask providers to block the network when it is used for online gambling,” Budi explained.
Collaboration between the government and relevant parties is expected to strengthen data- and technology-based monitoring. The goal is clear: to ensure that all Social Assistance funds are used responsibly and truly benefit the legitimate beneficiary families. The government continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to maintaining the integrity of the Social Assistance program as a vital instrument for poverty alleviation in Indonesia.
