The PBB in Jakarta can amount to Rp 150 million (US$11,000) per year, quite apart from the maintenance and operational costs as Jakarta's regional minimum wage keeps increasing. Amid this situation, state-owned energy firm Pertamina determines different margins based on individual stations.

"With the same amount of investment, you’ll have lower costs if you build a gas station outside Jakarta while the profit margins are the same everywhere. Managing a gas station in Jakarta is more complicated as you must keep the level of excellence otherwise you lose a margin of Rp 50 per liter," said the chairman of Hiswana Migas in Jakarta, Banten, and West Java, Juan Tarigan, in Jakarta on Friday.

Owners who were unable to keep up with the competition often chose to hand over the gas station management to a third party, he further said. The operator would pay a fixed amount of money or make a profit-sharing agreement with the owner.

However this leads to a big problem when the operator wants higher profits. "Then, they rig the fuel meter," Juan said, adding that handing over the gas station management to a third party was actually illegal.

Juan acknowledged that this practice was increasingly common in Greater Jakarta, but difficult to track. A recent case of rigged fuel meters in South Jakarta is under investigation and he called on Pertamina to launch an independent audit of Jakarta’s gas stations. (ags)

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