Changing Your Phone Number Can Make Your Online Loan Debt Disappear?

Jakarta -Changing one’s phone number is often considered one of the most effective ways to avoid tracking by online loan applications (pinjol), which have now been renamed to online loans (pindar).

Because by changing the number, debt collectors will have difficulty contacting customers or debtors who owe money. But will the debt from the online loan automatically be erased by doing this?

In detikcom’s notes, from the perspective of civil law, illegal online loans themselves are not legitimate. Because it does not meet the subjective and objective requirements as regulated in civil law.

Because of this, the loan received from the beginning is not legally valid and can be disregarded. Therefore, the individual is not obligated to pay and can easily avoid collection by changing their phone number.

However, it is important to remember that this does not apply to legal online loans or now renamed as pindar (online loans) registered with the OJK. Because each of these loans has met the applicable legal requirements, the loans provided are legally valid.

In addition, every loan disbursed also follows all the regulations set by OJK or AFPI (Indonesian Joint Funding Fintech Association), from the daily interest rates to the debt collection practices towards customers.

On the official AFPI website, it is explained that the requirements to obtain a loan in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending fintech include completing and uploading documents such as family cards (KK), tax identification numbers (NPWP), identity cards (KTP), salary slips, and internet banking accounts. This requirement aims for fintech to know the borrower’s data and check their credit score.

When the loan period experiences a default, you will face the consequence that your personal data will be reported to the OJK and subsequently, your data will be blacklisted in the OJK Financial Information Services System (SLIK).

Therefore, changing your phone number does not automatically make your debts disappear. Because the debts are recorded based on the identity numbers of the ID card and family card, not on contact numbers like phone numbers.

Moreover, if this debt is not paid off immediately, it will only grow larger. Because every loan given will be subject to interest, which will increase the principal amount of the loan. Moreover, if the payment is delayed, there will be additional penalties.

This burden will continue to accumulate and make the amount of debt that must be paid even larger. Then, because personal data is already stored in SLIK OJK, the individual will not be able to apply for loans from formal financial institutions, whether banks or legal lenders, until all their debts are settled.

“For example, if you borrow 4 million, then when you default within a certain period, you must pay a maximum of 8 million (according to OJK regulations, a maximum of 100% and no more) of the total principal loan,” wrote AFPI.

In the worst-case scenario, legal or licensed online lenders also have the right to appoint legal counsel to take legal action against debtors who still owe money in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

Thus, it can be concluded that changing a mobile phone number does help debtors or customers avoid calls from debt collectors. However, this does not mean that the debt is automatically canceled or considered paid off; it still must be paid.

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