Tim Alper is a journalist who covers betting news and regulation for CasinoBeats. He joined the CasinoBeats team in May 2025. He reports on breaking news and developments in the world of betting, casinos, and...
Read Full BioThe government of Indonesia has stopped welfare benefit payments for thousands of families across the country, accusing recipients of spending money on online gambling platforms.
Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf told reporters in Jakarta that the government has amassed data on some 9 million individuals who have used online casinos.
Saifullah added that “around 600,000” of these individuals are “recipients of social assistance.”
The ministry first revealed its findings in July this year, but is now following up with punitive action at the local level.
Indonesia Welfare Benefits: Cut Orders Come Without Warning
The ministry says it has launched further probes into “approximately 375,000 people,” with checks on employment profiles and backgrounds ongoing.
The Jambi-based media outlet Jambi Satu reported that 90 families registered as beneficiaries in the city have been officially removed from the central government’s social welfare system.
The families involved will no longer receive bantuan social payments, the Jambi City Social Services Agency confirmed.
Members of these families were all “involved in online gambling activities,” per data compiled by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).
Jambi city officials confirmed that they had received “several complaints from residents regarding the sudden termination of their PKH benefits.”
They added that PPATK checks are “still in progress.” An official explained: “We may see more benefit payments stopped in the future. The central government is still collecting data.”
The central government has claimed that social welfare payments remain “a right for the poor and vulnerable.”
But, it says, if the money from these payments is used “on illegal activities like online gambling, we will automatically revoke these rights.”
A Ministry of Social Affairs official said: “State subsidies are not for people who abuse them. Social assistance should reach poor and vulnerable families. It must not be used for gambling.”
Final Decision on Welfare Rests With Central Gov’t, Say City Authorities
Jambi city said local authorities were powerless to act. An official explained: “We’re simply following up on the data provided by the central government. Residents with objections can request clarifications. But the final decision rests with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the PPATK.”
Critics of the government’s crackdown claim that welfare payment cancellations come “with no prior warning.”
Earlier this year, Puan Maharani, the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, urged the ministry to use data validation tools before suspending welfare payments.
Puan claimed that data is often “misused” in checks. But she has also called for Jakarta to be “more serious” in its attempts to eradicate online gambling platforms.
