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View all search resultsData update snags cloud DTSEN’s sole use in subsidy targeting
Analysts suggested that the government complement the system with other data sources to better assess people’s financial capacity.
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Streams of reality : Water flows past slum housing on Nov. 13, 2025, along the Ciliwung River in Matraman, East Jakarta. The Jakarta provincial administration identified 445 community units with poor housing and limited sanitation. (The Jakarta Post/Iqro Rinaldi)
T
he National Economic Council (DEN) admitted that the new social registry system, known as the Single National Social and Economic Data (DTSEN), would not be flawless in determining individuals’ eligibility for subsidies, despite routine cross-checks that require a large amount of resources.
Analysts suggested that the government complement the system with other data sources to better assess people’s financial capacity.
DEN member Arief Anshory Yusuf told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the latest DTSEN update was collected in a census in 2022, which he said was “too old” to become the basis for social policies.
“People’s socio-economic conditions can change fast, making four years a bit too far behind. It is not accurate enough to decide whether or not people deserve something as important as subsidized fuel,” said Arief.
The system, which went online in February last year, attracted attention for all the wrong reasons when the government stated that it is considering a ban on subsidized fuel purchases for the country’s richest 20 percent, which in statistical terms belong in the top deciles 9 and 10.
Indonesia has been continually subsidizing certain fuel products since the late 1960s, which in practice applies universally despite efforts to curb the undeserving from taking advantage. President Prabowo Subianto’s administration had stated that it is seeking to make subsidies more targeted by utilizing the DTSEN registry.
While most consider well-targeted subsidies the right fiscal step to take, the intention becomes problematic when the people feel they have been misclassified. A lot have claimed that the system grouped them in the top two deciles when their realities say otherwise.
