The days when you can bribe or name drop your “cop friend” is over. The country is now under a new set of government who thrive in getting their regulations enforced, and no more corrupt behaviors will be tolerated. So for those who has been complaining all year around that you have to bribe the police for every little thing you do on the road, don’t worry, now you just have to make sure you’re not driving around while breaking rules; translation: not having valid license or helmet on.

So let’s say you got pulled over and you don’t have your paperwork, what would happen to you? Well, you will be issued a legal fine, your motorbike might be held – in which case you would have to settle the fine in court and/or show the required paperwork before your vehicle is released back to you.

If you are a foreigner and do not currently posses a valid international driver’s license, you can now apply for one. The process shouldn’t take more than a day and you can also use an agent to help you through to steps if you’re either confused or don’t really want to get in line like normal people should. Yes it would cost more than the published fees, but you wouldn’t be “bribing” for a speedy process. You would instead be paying “agent fee”. No more corruption here, ladies and gents. So don’t complain later about paying more than other people when you choose to use agents to do your deeds.

The Public Relation Division of Indonesian Police Department has released the 2015 rates for New and Extension of Driver’s License (see below). The cost for International Driver’s License is Rp. 250,000 for new license and Rp. 225,000 for renewal. Since everything is now transparent, the public is advised to not use agents and just follow through the legal process to obtain necessary license. Extending the validity of your license is also made easy with the mobile services and also a renewal kiosk that is available at Carrefour on Sunset Rd.

With that said, it might be a good idea to start new hashtag #BaliRazia on twitter to alert our fellow riders on the island when we encounter razia/police raid areas. For the time being, avoiding these raid spots might be the best way to go if you don’t currently hold a valid driver’s license – but please, do keep your legality up to date and put on that sweet, round, protective helmet of yours.

Kay Armanousa