JAKARTA: The Social Affairs Ministry has suspended the distribution of social assistance to nearly 1.5 million beneficiary families enrolled in the Basic Food Programme after data cross-referencing with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) flagged their accounts for online gambling transactions.
Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf confirmed on Sunday (Aug 9) that around 1.5 million beneficiary families had been identified in the latest data sweep. Among them, 794,475 families are also recipients of the Family Hope Programm (PKH), a conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at the country’s poorest households.
Aid disbursement to all flagged recipients has been temporarily frozen pending a verification process.
“There are 1,494,652 beneficiary families flagged for online gambling, based on data we received from the PPATK. We are currently investigating and examining the matter further,” Saifullah said, as quoted by Bisnis.com.
The staggering figure marks a sharp increase over the 2025 data-matching exercise, which identified approximately 600,000 beneficiary families with transactions linked to online gambling.
The ministry now faces mounting pressure to tighten oversight of the multitrillion-rupiah social protection programmes. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has revealed that, based on reports submitted by lenders to the PPATK, activities with suspected links to online gambling surged 260 per cent last year.
The share of suspected online gambling activities among all reported suspicious transactions rose from 18.37 per cent in December 2024 to 48.83 p cent in December 2025, while the figure stood at 35.28 per cent as of the first quarter last year.
Saifullah explained that the ministry is working alongside the PPATK and the Communications and Digital Ministry to determine whether the flagged beneficiaries have indeed misused state funds.
The probe will also form part of a broader effort to update the National Integrated Social Economic Data (DTSEN), a centralised database designed to improve the accuracy of social assistance targeting.
“They may no longer meet the criteria for receiving social assistance. There is evidence that the aid is being used for online gambling. We are investigating this further, which also serves as part of our data-updating process,” he said.
Results from the in-depth review are expected to be mapped out as early as next week, according to the minister.
Beyond the immediate suspension and investigation, the ministry is intensifying educational outreach through its network of PKH facilitators and social support workers stationed across the archipelago.
Saifullah stressed the importance of digital literacy and personal accountability among aid recipients, warning against negligence that could enable account misuse.
“People must not be careless, for instance, by letting others use or exploit their accounts. We consistently provide outreach, education and support to beneficiaries through these social support workers. We are doing this continuously,” he added.
The crackdown underscores the government’s growing concern over the rampant spread of online gambling, which has increasingly penetrated low-income communities.
Questions are mounting over the key figure behind the sponsorship of a Jakarta-based online gambling network, following early May’s raid that uncovered hundreds of foreigners operating across 75 domains and gambling websites from an office building in the heart of a business district in West Jakarta.
Lawmakers have urged the National Police to deepen their investigation into the network’s funding flows as investigators are scrambling to find the financiers behind the gambling ring. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
