A member of the House of Representatives of Gerindra Party, Kardaya Warnika, was found to have failed to pay his vehicle taxes at a checkpoint in East Jakarta on Wednesday.

Officers from the East Jakarta Tax and Levy Board (BPRD) and the East Jakarta Police Vehicle Document Registration Center (Samsat) caught the owner of the Toyota Hilux on Jl. DI Panjaitan while he was heading to Cililitan, kompas.com reported.

The officers stopped the car to check its documents and found that Kardaya had not paid taxes for his car for two years.

Kardaya immediately headed over to the checkpoint's post to write a statement saying he would pay the taxes for his car soon.

“I forgot it. I’ll pay for it soon,” Kardaya said.

East Jakarta BPRD acting head of motorized vehicle tax (PKB) and vehicle-ownership transfer fees (BBNKB) unit Wigat Prasetyo said the House member had written a statement pledging to pay his taxes soon.

“He said he forgot to pay his taxes. According to his written statement, he will come here to pay his vehicle taxes on July 27. We’ve also confiscated his STNK [vehicle registration documents] for the time being,” he said.

On Jl. DI Panjaitan, East Jakarta, officers stopped 23 cars whose owners immediately paid their vehicle taxes on the spot, while another 23 had written statements pledging to pay the taxes.

Wigat said the statements were valid for three days after they had been issued, and Samsat would not allow the car to be on the road if the owner had not paid their vehicle tax. (rfa)