Delivery Business Based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Lessons Learned from Indonesia’s Regulations

Electronic system service providers in Indonesia are not required to have specific permits to start a business. This is an advantage for businesses that rely on digital platforms, especially those offering search services and those providing platforms for ordering goods and/or services through online applications. Such dynamic types of business practices have disrupted certain businesses that have reached a mature stage, including taxi services, shopping centers, and ticket booking and travel agencies. Such a disruption effect has led to an apprehension with regard to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for goods delivery services because it is feared that they will destroy land vehicle-based freight forwarding businesses. The issue that this paper addresses is whether Indonesian law currently tends to simplify or complicate the implementation of UAV-based goods delivery services. Based on legal research methodology, the study examines international rules adopted by the Indonesian government with regard to the use of UAVs and the status of legal rules in Indonesia for UAV-based goods delivery services. The findings indicate that the current regulation of UAVs in Indonesia has not made it possible to operate UAVs as a mode of delivery of goods.