Governor Wayan Koster has taken decisive action against online housing booking sites. At a meeting with representatives of Airbnb, the head of the region put forward a strict requirement: to remove from the application all objects operating without appropriate permissions.
The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism has initiated a nationwide audit, obliging platforms such as Booking and Airbnb to audit the documents of each landlord. The deadline for confirming licenses for all hotels and villas is March 31, 2026.
Owners need to have a valid business license, register with the OSS (Online Single Submission) state system, and verify their Entrepreneur Identification Number (NIB). Those who fail to legalize by the deadline will be automatically excluded from the search results.
As a reward for bona fide market participants, a special digital badge has been introduced "Registered and licensed". It will be displayed in the application next to the name of the object, serving as a guarantee for tourists of the safety and legality of the chosen accommodation.
Governor Koster called the current state of affairs on the island a blatant injustice. According to him, the government and local residents invest heavily in maintaining cleanliness and preserving Bali's cultural heritage, while owners of "shady" villas make super profits by avoiding participation in the development of the region.
Another point of the dialogue was the governor's request to Airbnb to facilitate the collection of tourist taxes from foreign visitors. Koster suggested that the platform integrate into a single system for monitoring tourist flows, but the technical details of such interaction have not yet been disclosed. Shanta Arul, Airbnb's representative in Southeast Asia, responded to a request from the Indonesian authorities. She assured that the company is ready to comply with local laws and encourage its partners to pay taxes. According to her, the platform will inform everyone who wants to place an ad about the need to fulfill these requirements.Source: BaliForum
