Alun-alun Kidul Illegal Fees: When Parking-Shrouded Extortion Becomes a Criminal Case
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- Dugaan pungutan liar terhadap pedagang food truck di Alun-alun Kidul Yogyakarta naik ke ranah pidana setelah korban melaporkan permintaan Rp 2,5 juta per hari.
- Pakar hukum pidana menilai praktik itu memenuhi unsur pemerasan, dan keterlibatan aparat justru memperberat hukuman.
- Kasus ini menguji sejauh mana penegakan hukum mampu membongkar rantai pungli yang selama ini dianggap sebagai biaya tak resmi berusaha.
The demand for Rp 2.5 million per day in parking money faced by Bolosego food truck owner Dyah Laily Fardisa in the Alun-alun Kidul area of Yogyakarta has ended up in criminal territory. After negotiation, the figure dropped to Rp 1 million per day, but Dyah also said she was asked to provide food for ten people she described as thugs and three police officers. She chose to stop selling after one day of operation.
This case is not merely a dispute over a stall. The practice of illegal levies long treated as an unofficial cost of doing business is now being tested on whether it can be prosecuted under criminal provisions, rather than only resolved through mediation or administrative enforcement. Criminal law expert from Universitas Trisakti, Abdul Fickar Hadjar, argues that illegal levies can be categorized as extortion when carried out with coercion. If accompanied by physical violence, the act could even fall under the category of assault.
According to Fickar, the biggest obstacle is not proof. A confession or testimony from a number of witnesses is enough, especially if there is evidence of payment receipts. The real problem is the possibility that law enforcement officers also receive a cut from the practice. "But because it is an ordinary offense, the police/law enforcement should be able to process it legally right away. The difficulty is that sometimes officers also get a cut," he told Kompas.com on Wednesday (23/9/2026).
He added that if officers are proven to be involved, that involvement becomes an aggravating factor in sentencing the perpetrators. This statement highlights a longstanding problem in combating illegal levies: a chain of power that means enforcement often stops at field-level actors, while the figures behind them remain safe.
From the business side, illegal levies create shadow costs that erode margins, especially for MSMEs and street vendors. When unofficial charges become a condition for operating, the business climate worsens, small investment is hampered, and local revenue does not increase because the money flows into private pockets. In tourist areas such as Alun-alun Kidul, the impact is twofold: vendors retreat, tourists lose culinary options, and the area's reputation as a business-friendly destination is tarnished.
For readers in Indonesia, especially business players and investors, this case is a real test of the commitment to bureaucratic reform and law enforcement. Many victims have been reluctant to report for fear of retaliation or because they consider illegal levies normal. If the Bolosego case is successfully processed through to court, it could set a precedent that parking-shrouded extortion is no longer a trivial matter. Conversely, if the case fizzles out midway, the signal is clear: illegal levies are still considered part of the cost of doing business.
Going forward, the public will wait to see whether investigators follow up on the alleged involvement of officers and how far the chain of levies in other tourist areas will be dismantled. The question is whether the state can ensure that selling in public spaces no longer means paying tribute.
