| Full title | Peraturan Menteri Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat Nomor 3 Tahun 2023 tentang Penataan Perizinan dan Persetujuan Bidang Sumber Daya Air |
|---|---|
| Citation | Permen PUPR 3/2023 |
| Jurisdiction | Indonesia (river basins under central government authority) |
| Enacted by | Minister of Public Works and Public Housing |
| Signed | 13 February 2023 |
| Promulgated | 24 February 2023 |
| Effective | 24 February 2023 |
| Implements | Pasal 23 of PP 121/2015 |
Peraturan Menteri Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat 3/2023 (Peraturan Menteri Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat Nomor 3 Tahun 2023 tentang Penataan Perizinan dan Persetujuan Bidang Sumber Daya Air) is an Indonesian ministerial regulation that sets a procedure for regularising water resource activities built or carried out without the required permit or approval. It was signed by the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing on 13 February 2023 and took effect on its promulgation on 24 February 2023, as Berita Negara 2023 No. 182.[1] It belongs to the body of rules described at water resources law of Indonesia, and its preamble presents it as part of the implementation of Pasal 23 of PP 121/2015 on the commercial use of water resources.[2]
The regulation applies in river basins under central government authority, to constructions made before its promulgation for the commercial use of water resources, their non-commercial use, or the diversion of a river channel.[3] An activity can be regularised only if it is technically sound, does no damage to the environment or water infrastructure that is not repaired, brings social and economic benefit, and conforms to the spatial plan.[4] Applications go through a permit service unit and a verification team in the Directorate General of Water Resources, whose recommendation leads to a permit or approval with an administrative fine, and in some cases repairs, or to refusal with an order to dismantle the works and restore the water source.[5]
Applications could be made for three years from the regulation's entry into force.[6] Fines are calculated under formulas in the annex, which count the period of violation from 1 November 2019.[7]
The preamble presents the regulation as a policy for people and businesses that use water resources without a permit or approval but whose activities support government programmes on job creation, ease of doing business, sustainable investment and small enterprises, so as to give them legal certainty and protection. Regularisation is to be done in a set manner and within a set period.[2:1] The Mengingat clause cites UU 17/2019 on water resources, PP 121/2015 and Perpres 27/2020 on the ministry.[2:2] PP 121/2015 was revoked in August 2024 by PP 30/2024 on water resources management.[8]
Pasal 1 defines a commercial water resources permit (Izin Pengusahaan Sumber Daya Air) as a permit to obtain or take surface water resources for a business activity, and a water resources use approval (Persetujuan Penggunaan Sumber Daya Air) as an approval to do so for a non-business activity. A river channel diversion (pengalihan alur sungai) is the building of a new channel that permanently ends the function of the old one, and requires its own approval.[9]
Pasal 2 assigns the regularisation of permits and approvals in river basins under central government authority to the minister, and limits it to activities carried out before a permit or approval was issued, meaning constructions made before the regulation was promulgated. The activities covered are the commercial use of water resources, their non-commercial use, and river channel diversion.[3:1] Pasal 3 sets four cumulative criteria: technical soundness (laik teknis), absence of damage to the environment or to water resources infrastructure, social and economic benefit, and conformity with the regional spatial plan. Where damage has occurred, the permit or approval is granted with an obligation to repair it.[4:1]
Applications are made to the minister through the Director General of Water Resources and the permit service unit (Unit Pelayanan Perizinan, UPP). Commercial permits may be sought by state, regional and village enterprises, private companies, cooperatives and individuals; use approvals by government agencies, legal entities, social bodies and individuals; and diversion approvals by government agencies, Indonesian legal entities, business entities and individuals.[10] A commercial application states the purpose, location, quantity of water and duration of use and the infrastructure used, and is accompanied by as-built drawings, a statement of conformity with the spatial plan, the environmental approval (persetujuan lingkungan) described at environmental approval in Indonesia, a statement of social and economic benefit, the record of a public consultation, and a statement by the applicant that it built or used the resource without a permit. National strategic projects and government agencies need supply only the as-built drawings and the environmental approval.[11]
An application to regularise a river diversion must include a map of the old and new channels, their areas and lengths, a land title to the new channel in the applicant's name, hydrological and hydraulic analyses and an analysis of the effect on flood levels and on the stability of structures, with a technical justification where the pre-diversion analysis cannot be supplied. The applicant undertakes to hand over the new channel, with at least the capacity of the old one, and title to its land in the name of the ministry, and to resolve the social impacts.[12] The new channel must be at least as large and long as the old one; otherwise the applicant must widen the channel or its riparian border, or build compensating storage such as small reservoirs (embung) or retention ponds.[13]
Once the UPP has found an application complete, a verification team appointed by the Director General, drawn from the legal, technical and other units of the directorate general, checks the activity's compliance on environment and infrastructure, social and economic benefit and the spatial plan, and the technical soundness of the construction, with a field inspection by the river basin office where needed and a flow test for a diversion. Its findings are reviewed by the internal compliance unit.[5:1]
The verification report recommends one of three outcomes: a permit or approval with an administrative sanction; a permit or approval with a sanction and repair of the water source or works; or refusal with an obligation to dismantle the works and return the water source to its former condition. Refusal follows where the construction is not technically sound, brings no social or economic benefit, does not conform to the spatial plan or lies in a prohibited location. The Director General signs the decision on the minister's behalf within seven working days of receiving the report.[5:2][14] A refused applicant is told the reasons in writing, must dismantle the works, and may not apply again on the same data.[14:1]
The sanction is an administrative fine, payable to the state treasury within six months of the permit or approval; if it is not paid, or if required repairs are not made within three months, the permit or approval is revoked.[15] The annex sets three formulas. For water abstraction and the use of water power, the fine is the product of a fine rate, the volume of water sought (or, for power generation, the electricity produced), the months of violation counted from 1 November 2019 to the application, and a coefficient. For constructions across or along a water source that use no water, such as bridges, pipes and cables, and for river diversions, the fine is calculated from the area occupied and the land's taxable sale value (nilai jual objek pajak), multiplied by a coefficient.[7:1] Procedures for verification, review and the calculation of fines are left to the Director General.[15:1]
Pasal 22 set a deadline of three years from entry into force, that is to 24 February 2026, for applications, with outreach and evaluation during that period. Applications lodged before the regulation but incomplete are processed once complete, and applicants refused earlier for acting without a permit may apply again under the regulation.[16]
CRPG's regulatory tracker published an analysis of the regulation on 26 November 2025.[17]
K206 · Work URI /akn/id/act/permen-pupr/2023/3 · RegVault PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 24 and closing formula (Ditetapkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 13 Februari 2023; Diundangkan di Jakarta pada tanggal 24 Februari 2023; Berita Negara Republik Indonesia Tahun 2023 Nomor 182). regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, preamble, Menimbang huruf a to e (huruf d: implementing Pasal 23 of Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 121 Tahun 2015 tentang Pengusahaan Sumber Daya Air) and Mengingat angka 1 to 6. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023 (a second copy is held as PERMENPUPR_3_2023). ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 2 ayat (1) to (4). regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 3 ayat (1) and (2). regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 14 to 17. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 22 ayat (1) and (2). regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Lampiran (Formula Perhitungan Besaran Denda Administratif), items 1 to 3. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 30 Tahun 2024 tentang Pengelolaan Sumber Daya Air, Pasal 150 huruf c. regulation_id PP_30_2024. https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/295844/pp-no-30-tahun-2024 ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 1 angka 6 to 9 and 12. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 4 ayat (1) to (4). regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 5 to 8. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 9 to 12. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 13 ayat (1) to (6). regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 20 and 21. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 18 ayat (1) to (8) and Pasal 19. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎ ↩︎
[P] Permen PUPR 3/2023, Pasal 22 ayat (1) and (2) and Pasal 23 ayat (1) and (2), read with Pasal 24. regulation_id PERMEN_PUPR_3_2023. ↩︎
[E] "Regularising Pre-Existing Water Resource Activities: PERMENPUPR 3/2023", CRPG regulatory tracker, crpg.id, 26 November 2025. https://crpg.id/how-does-permenpupr-3-2023-structure-water-resource-permits/ (free sign-in required on crpg.id) The post carries a notice that it is AI-generated; it is cited for the record of the development, not for its legal content. ↩︎