Indonesia has temporarily frozen food-assistance payments to 1,494,652 beneficiary households after a nationwide financial-data match flagged possible links between their accounts and illegal online gambling transactions, placing one of the country’s largest welfare verification exercises under scrutiny. Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf confirmed the review on August 11, 2026, while 794,475 of the affected households were also identified as beneficiaries of the Family Hope Program (PKH).
The measure does not amount to an automatic permanent exclusion. The Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) is reviewing each case to determine whether gambling activity was deliberate, repeated and directly attributable to the beneficiary, or whether the account may have been shared, compromised or used by third parties. Households found to have intentionally misused welfare support may lose benefits permanently, with the funds redirected to other eligible recipients.
Kemensos is carrying out the verification with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), Indonesia’s financial intelligence unit, headed by Ivan Yustiavandana, and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), led by Meutya Hafid. PPATK provides the transaction intelligence used to identify suspicious account activity, while Komdigi forms part of the wider enforcement structure targeting gambling websites, payment channels and digital infrastructure.
Ivan Yustiavandana
The review is tied to the National Socio-Economic Single Data system (DTSEN), administered by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) under Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti. The database, supported by Presidential Instruction No. 4 of 2025, contained 95.3 million households in 2026 and is used to reassess eligibility for social assistance.
Meutya Hafid
The latest review is substantially larger than the previous matching exercise, which identified close to 600,000 welfare-beneficiary households with suspected gambling-related activity. If the new 1.49 million figure is maintained after verification, the number under review would be roughly 2.5 times higher.
Friderica Widyasari Dewi
Indonesia has simultaneously escalated financial enforcement. Between October 20, 2024 and July 12, 2026, Komdigi acted against around 3.7 million gambling-related websites and pieces of content. The Financial Services Authority (OJK), chaired by Friderica Widyasari Dewi, has also overseen account blocks and closures following KYC and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) checks.
PPATK recorded 12.3 million people linked to online gambling deposits in 2025, Rp286.84 trillion in annual transaction volume and 422.1 million transactions. A strategic study published in May 2026 also cited Rp1.163 quadrillion in illegal gambling-related fund circulation. The legal framework has also shifted. Law No. 1 of 2023, Indonesia’s new Criminal Code, took effect on January 2, 2026 and repealed Law No. 7 of 1974 on Gambling Control. Law No. 4 of 2026 strengthened financial-sector coordination against illicit flows, while Law No. 8 of 2010 continues to support PPATK’s anti-money laundering powers.
