JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com – Indonesia has ordered mobile network operators to protect customers’ unused internet data. They must offer mechanisms such as quota rollover, validity extensions or refunds following a landmark Constitutional Court (MK) ruling.

The Communication and Digital Affairs Ministry issued Circular Letter No. 4/2026 on August 28. This was to implement Constitutional Court Decision No. 273/PUU-XXIII/2025.

Operators must submit their initial compliance reports to the ministry by September 28 and provide monthly progress reports afterward.

Director General of Public Communication and Media Fifi Aleyda Yahya said customers retain an interest in the service value represented by the data allowance they have purchased.

“Data quotas that customers have purchased and paid for form part of the service value to which they are entitled,” Fifi said in a video statement.

“Therefore, when a package’s validity period ends, operators must continue to protect the remaining quota.”

The available mechanisms include carrying unused data into a new period, extending its validity, transferring its benefit, and providing compensation (refund).

Operators may also develop other solutions as long as they do not disadvantage customers.

“Operators may innovate. Customers must remain protected,” Fifi said.

The requirement applies to unused data from prepaid and postpaid services. The policy does not necessarily mean that every internet package must remain active indefinitely.

The Constitutional Court ordered providers to offer service options that keep remaining data active and available for use.

On July 23, the court ruled that Article 28(1) of the Telecommunications Law, as amended through the Job Creation Law, would be unconstitutional. This would apply unless interpreted as requiring those protected service options.

“In practical terms, any data quota that has not been fully used or enjoyed must continue to be protected,” Constitutional Court Justice Adies Kadir said when delivering the ruling.

Customers must be able to use the remaining allowance without paying an additional fee solely to preserve it, he added.

Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said the ministry issued the circular after receiving complaints. These complaints said that operators had not fully implemented the judgment.

“Customers have paid for their data quotas, so those quotas are their right,” Meutya said.

“Operators cannot simply erase the remaining data or charge an additional fee to preserve it.”

The circular directs operators to update their service terms and explain the available protection mechanisms clearly to customers.

It also requires providers to set up complaint channels and to resolve disputes over unused data in a transparent manner.

Mobile operators had argued during the court proceedings that customers purchase time-limited access to network capacity rather than permanent ownership of a fixed digital asset.

They also warned that compulsory rollover across every package could affect pricing and network planning.

The court concluded that commercial considerations could not override reasonable consumer protection.

Its decision allows operators to maintain different product models. They must provide customers with meaningful options that preserve the value of unused data.

The policy’s practical effect will depend on how operators revise their packages before the reporting deadline.

Customers should review the terms of each plan because rollover, compensation and refund procedures may vary among providers.