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ndonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has revealed it found several indications that one of Jakarta'€™s biggest sports halls, GOR (sport hall) Ciracas, had collected illegal fees by doubling or tripling the official rent for sports facilities.

ICW activist Emerson Yuntho said the group had received reports from members of the public that they had been asked to pay fees that were not in accordance with official fees regulated in Bylaw No. 3/2012 on regional levies.

Emerson cited one report that stated officials at the sports hall in East Jakarta had charged Rp 600,000 (US$44) in monthly rent allowing eight-time usage of facilities, which the bylaw regulated should cost Rp 200,000.

'€œIt means there were illegal levies that tripled the original fee. This kind of practice began in 2012,'€ Emerson said on Tuesday.

Bylaw No. 3/2012 regulates the official rental fees for various sports facilities across the city. For example, using a basketball court costs Rp 80,000 for two hours, while the cost of a hall for martial arts is set at Rp 10,000 for two hours.

However, residents have reportedly found that few sports halls in Jakarta abide by the regulation, instead choosing to charge their customers much higher fees.

Andre Fazara, an official from the East Jakarta Taekwondo team, said anyone who rented a facility at GOR Ciracas or at other sports halls in Jakarta was likely to be asked to pay more than the fees regulated by the bylaw, adding that sportspeople had no choice but to pay the higher levies.

'€œEveryone knows that kind of practice occurs here. GOR Ciracas is very popular, so if I can'€™t meet their demands, someone else will take my place to rent the place,'€ Andre said, adding that he was once ordered to pay Rp 5 million for 12 hours'€™ rent.

Andre said the only way to be charged a normal fee by GOR officials was to bring an official letter from the Jakarta Sports Agency, which managed the sports hall.

'€œThey can'€™t do anything if you bring such a letter. However, you will still be charged with an enormous unofficial sanitation fee,'€ he said.

Built in 2007 on 6.6 hectares of land, GOR Ciracas has basketball courts, a soccer field, swimming facilities and an assembly hall. In 2012 the Jakarta administration revitalized the sports hall to meet international standards.

On the first floor, visitors to the sports hall can also see spaces that are rented by a law firm, security services company and other businesses that are unrelated to sports.

Besides allegedly collecting illegal levies, ICW also said that GOR Ciracas had rented out spaces for activities that had no relation to sports, including wedding parties, reunions or seminars.

Separately, GOR Ciracas administration head Zaenuri denied the allegations, saying that every space hired at the sports hall complied with the bylaw.

'€œWe conduct everything here based on the regulation. Please check it yourself,'€ he said Tuesday.

Commenting on tenants on the hall'€™s first floor that were unrelated to sports, Zaenuri said that contracts with the tenants had been signed before he took on his position and that the businesses were finishing up their contracts.

According to Zaenuri, GOR Ciracas was one of the facilities in the city that could meet its locally generated revenue target, set at Rp 320 million per year.

The sports hall'€™s service implementation unit head, Tomino, also stated that all rentals were done by the book, saying that the income from rent fees would be submitted as regional revenue immediately.