The government of Indonesia is encouraging the use of the People’s Online Aspirations and Complaint Service (LAPOR) as part of the National Public Service Complaint Management System (SP4N) to enhance the quality of public service. They inspire users of the SP4N-LAPOR! website to report problems with the delivery of public services.
“The public isn’t always sure where to send their inquiries or criticisms,” said Deputy for Public Services at the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Diah Natalisa during a talk at the Know LAPOR! event in Tugu Station, Yogyakarta.
Before the ‘LAPOR!’ app became available, people often hesitated to lodge complaints. Many complaints are filed with the wrong organisation. Because of this, people’s complaints tend to be ineffective in improving government services. Diah added that the ‘LAPOR!’ app “aims to promote a no wrong door policy,” or the right of the community to lodge grievances with the appropriate public service providers.
Diah argued that citizens’ reports on the government’s performance in the public service sector, whether complaints or praise, deem feedback and give the government a strategic position to improve inadequate services. Since 2016, the President has delegated day-to-day management of SP4N-LAPOR! to the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. The Ministry of PANRB is responsible for forwarding complaints to the appropriate agencies so that they can act swiftly on them.
“The ‘LAPOR!’ software has a tracking ID function so users can see how much attention their reports receive,” Diah remarked.
Raden Agus Dwinanto Budiadji, EVP of PT Kereta Api Indonesia’s (KAI) Operational Area (Daop) 6 in Yogyakarta, stated that the government railway company benefited from SP4N-LAPOR! ‘s seamless integration with KAI’s customer service. For further follow-up, we will continue to synergise it, as stated by Raden Agus: “So we capture this (complaint) via the system, later it will be supplied.”
At a separate Meet ‘LAPOR!’ event in Cirebon Station, The Government Assistant for Community Welfare of the Regional Secretariat of Cirebon City, Sutisna, revealed the city government of Cirebon has also followed up on the ‘LAPOR!’ app’s use to streamline citizens’ access to complaint services.
“Don’t be wary about reporting it but avoid spreading hoaxes and ensure your reporting is factual,” he emphasised.
Previously, KemenpanRB reported that Indonesia’s digitalisation efforts had advanced significantly. The growing satisfaction with government-run platforms is a sign of this. For instance, The National Public Service Complaint Management System SP4N-LAPOR! had a customer satisfaction rate of 73.7%. The study, which took place in 2022, included 1,123 participants.
According to national data, the average response time for an ‘SP4N-LAPOR!’ complaint is 6.1 days. It takes the city government of Surabaya approximately 0.6 business days, or about 2 hours, to follow up on complaints, making it one of the fastest in Indonesia. The provincial government of East Java processed 6,160 reports in 2022, and 97% of them were followed up on. More than 90% (35 out of 39) of districts/cities in East Java have some action plan, and the SP4N-LAPOR Administration has issued a Decree to all East Javan provinces and municipalities.
Additionally, Indonesia had updated The Bureaucratic Reform (RB) Road Map 2020–2024 targets and metrics. From “Good and clean government” to “Clean, effective and competitive bureaucracy to encourage national development and public services,” the government has refined its goals for the Road Map RB 2020-2024.
The overriding goal is to strengthen facets of government that have yet to contribute to the country’s development significantly. The government needs to catch up to other countries, corruption is still widespread, and the quality of public services could be better.
