Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) has recorded a spike in consumer complaints in the financial services sector, with 2,152 complaints filed as of December 16, 2021, compared to 226 complaints a year ago.

At an online press conference here on Monday, deputy chairman of BPKN's Commission 3, Andi Muhammad Rusdi Galigo, noted that the financial services sector has become the sector that has received the most complaints.

This has been driven by a large number of complaints filed in the insurance sub-sector, he informed.

"The insurance sub-sector is the sector with the most complaints and the biggest loss, which is more than Rp2 trillion," Galigo said.

Several of the complaints concern leasing, with the majority of the problems related to vehicle repossession, restructurization, and billing methods used by debt collectors, he added.

Many of the insurance complaints pertained to insurance claims, bankrupt insurance, and payment failure, he disclosed.

In banking, the most frequent complaints involved non-payment of installments due to the pandemic, credit card utilization by other people, and missing bankers' funds, he said.

In the investment sector, most of the reports concerned defaults by investment companies, he added.

"In addition, when it comes to loan application, many of the problems revolve around billing system and high interest rate. The most-reported complaint in the non-banking sector is concerning failure in deposit payment," Galigo noted.

Moreover, BPKN also recorded complaints regarding home purchase, e-commerce, telecommunication services, transportation services, electronic goods, household electricity and gas, medicines and food, as well as health services, he said.

In total, 3,211 complaints were received from the public in 2021, with potential losses reaching Rp2.45 trillion, he added.

Earlier, BPKN estimated that Indonesia's economic growth could reach four percent by 2021 along with the recovery of and the increase in consumer trust in Indonesia.

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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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