Despite complaints from vehicle owners of increased charges, the Jakarta administration maintains no decree has yet been passed to raise vehicle taxes for this year.

"We have yet to increase vehicle taxes this year because we already did last year," assistant to the City Secretary for Finance Sukri Bey said Friday.

He said his team had investigated allegations that motorists had been forced to pay higher fees at a number of Vehicle Document Centers (Samsat) in the city.

"Perhaps, officers at the Samsat had falsely recorded taxpayers' vehicle specifications, forcing them to pay more," he said, adding that such incidents had only occurred in South Jakarta.

Sukri said those forced to pay more would be refunded.

A Jakarta Police official in charge of vehicle ownership documents, Comr. Arman Achdiat, said the police had not received any reports on complaints of higher taxes from vehicle owners.

"We know nothing, not even if the city revenue agency has increased vehicle taxes," he said.

The latest bylaw on vehicle tax, issued in a gubernatorial regulation last year, stipulates that a motor vehicle owner must pay annual vehicle taxes based on vehicle specification, including year of production, engine capacity and vehicle type and brand.

However, Warta Kota reported Friday several complaints from vehicle owners that the city revenue agency had silently increased vehicle taxes.

They said vehicle tax increases, coupled with fuel price increases, had overburdened them.

Merdi Iskandar, 37, who owns a year 2000 110-cc motorcycle, said he had to spend Rp 127,500 (US$13.71) for vehicle tax and Rp 35,000 for vehicle insurance when he re-registered his vehicle on May 8 at the South Jakarta Samsat office in the Jakarta Police compound.

"I spent approximately Rp 135,000 only last year and that included vehicle tax, insurance and fines because I was late to pay taxes," he said.

"As the fines were quite cheap, perhaps I would have needed to pay only Rp 125,000 had I not been late in my tax payment last year," he said.

"Oddly, this year I had to pay Rp 162,000 for vehicle tax and insurance, without fines, although I know that number couldn't possibly be a result of insurance premium increases."

The Finance Ministry issued a new decree on March 10 for state insurance firm PT Jasa Raharja to increase insurance pay-outs for victims and families of transport accidents.

As a result, public- and private-vehicle owners are required to pay higher premiums on their vehicle registrations.

According to the decree, owners of motorcycles with engine capacities of between 50 and 250 cc must pay premiums of Rp 35,000 per vehicle annually, up from the current Rp 22,000.

Private car owners must pay Rp 143,000 for car engine capacities below 2,400 cc, up from Rp 73,000 last year.

Owners of public transport vehicles of engine capacities below 1,600 cc must pay insurance premiums of Rp 73,000, up from Rp 43,000 last year, while for engines bigger than 1,600 cc, the fee is Rp 90,000, up from Rp 53,000.