Maya Calderon
A hand shoots up from a policeman and I frantically swing my left to avoid a collision with a lollipop. It’s not until I draw level with a group of 5 or so other tourists all on rented scooters with foreign licenses, and all being given a hard time by the policeman, that I realize I’ve been caught out riding here in Bali without an international driving permit. Three days of touring, of renting scooters from many, many rental shops all over the island, and not once had anyone asked to see a license, yet here I was. In the end it would take two weeks and 5 stops at the hand of Bali’s police at various tourist hotspots, all resulting in vastly different outcomes, but with some surprises in common, to teach me a valuable lesson about renting a scooter in Bali.
Riding in Indonesia without an International Driving Permit (IDP) is against the law, is very unsafe and may invalidate your travel insurance. However, the reality is that thousands of tourists every year ignore the law and instead opt for the ease of rental of scooters and motorcycles within the many rental shops located throughout the island. Most of these rental shops have no interest in whether the tourist has a valid driving license. In most cases, the tourist will be handed the keys to his rental scooter or motorcycle with only a couple of minutes of explanation of the workings of the bike and that will be it! It is very important to note that the tourist’s passport will usually be held as collateral for the return of the rental bike. So, the question really is: What is the penalty for riding in Bali without an IDP and is it worth the risk? It is our intention here to describe in some detail the type of fine that a tourist can expect to pay when caught by the police for not having an IDP and how the fine is negotiated with the officer. We will provide examples of real scenarios and also in order to give the reader a realistic impression of the risks involved and to assist in arriving at a well informed decision as to whether or not to risk riding in Bali without an IDP. Our advice to tourists is to remain flexible.
My First Police Stop & The 500,000 IDR Fine Near The Ubud Palace
Just around the corner from the Ubud Palace I turned the corner on my rental scooter and just as I had done a hundred times before prior to this incident a hand shot up with a fluorescent green vest. There were already 5 other foreign tourists in front of me who had also been pulled over for what would turn out to be a variety of reasons that had to do with the lack of an International Driving Permit.
The cop’s hand went up just as I rounded the corner near Ubud Palace. My stomach dropped. I’d been riding for three days without an international driving permit, convinced I could blend in with the thousands of other tourists zipping around on rented scooters. Wrong. Within seconds, I was pulled over to a dusty roadside checkpoint along with five other foreigners, all of us about to learn an expensive lesson about renting scooters in Bali without proper documentation. Over the next two weeks, I’d encounter police checkpoints three more times across Ubud, Canggu, and Seminyak. Each stop played out differently, with varying fine amounts and negotiation tactics. Here’s exactly what happened, how much I paid, and what I learned about the real risks of riding without a license in Bali’s tourist hotspots.
Understanding the Two-Tier Fine System
The fine to be paid when caught by the police can be paid on the spot or in a police station. If you pay on the spot then you pay the amount negotiated with the police. If you choose to go to the police station to pay your fine then you pay the official fine (500,000 IDR) plus any administration costs. In many cases paying on the spot is cheaper as there is no need to waste time traveling to a police station to fill in paperwork and wait for long periods of time. In both cases you will be required to hand over your STNK (vehicle registration card) until your fine is paid. Without an STNK then you are breaking the law and could be fined again for not having the proper documentation to drive a motorcycle on the roads of Indonesia.
I paid 250,000 IDR in cash. The process was fast and the officer business like as he counted out my money and returned my license and the registration for the bike. The other four tourists were charged similar amounts. An Australian even managed to negotiate the fine down to 200,000 IDR after claiming he only had that amount of cash on him. Whether he was lying or not is beside the point.
Why Ubud Has So Many Checkpoints
There are police checkpoints so often in Ubud because it is a very small area and the roads are all mainly in one area so it creates traffic jams. Ubud has become a tourist hub in the last 5 years due to the amount of cafes, hotels, and surf schools and as the roads have not been able to expand with the growth in tourism the police have set up a number of checkpoints around the main roads such as around the Monkey Forest, the Ubud Palace and the Ubud market. They know that tourists visit these places and that many tourists hire scooters from the many rental shops along Jalan Raya Ubud and around the Monkey Forest Road and that many of these tourists do not have an International Driving Permit.
The Canggu Beach Road Stop: When Having Some Documentation Helps (But Not Much)
Two days after that first fateful check point near the Ubud Palace, I got stopped again by the police – this time on the road to Canggu. I was heading in the opposite direction on Batu Bolong Street (opposite to the flow of traffic) on my scooter, when I saw a bunch of other tourists and a few locals in fluorescent vests diverting traffic to the right. I hesitated for a second thinking that maybe they were just doing some kind of random traffic control, but a cop in full regalia jumped out in front of me and started yelling at me in broken English asking for my license. He wanted my international driving permit specifically. I handed over my California driver’s license instead, which he didn’t seem too pleased about. When I explained to him that I had, in fact, applied for an International Driving Permit (IDP) before I left for Indonesia, and that it had not arrived in time for my trip, he wasn’t having it. He told me that many people say this, but that according to Indonesia law, I needed an International Driving Permit for motorcycles. He wrote out a fine of 500,000 IDR (about $32 USD at the time of writing) for me, and told me that I could either pay it at the police station or “settle” for 300,000 IDR (about $19 USD at the time of writing) in cash on the spot. He even used a translator on his phone to confirm that “settling” was indeed an option for me.
Although I have International license (IDP) my California Driver’s License wasn’t sufficient for this young policeman at a very popular beach in Bali. Of course I explained the circumstances why my IDP wasn’t available in time to start my holidays, however he’s obviously heard all of the excuses and wasn’t in the least bit interested. After all as he stated Indonesia Law clearly states that an International Permit is needed to ride a motorcycle in Bali. If only it were that simple! In the end I was let off with a fine of 300,000 rupiah although he could have charged me 500,000 under normal circumstances.
The Negotiation Dance in Canggu
Firstly, the police officer again declared the official fine of 500,000 IDR. After a bit of negotiation, I managed to agree to a fine of 300,000 IDR for the ‘on-the-spot’ option. After agreeing to this ‘deal’, he wanted to know if I had cash with me. In the end, I managed to negotiate the fine down to 250,000 IDR for the ‘on-the-spot’ option. Note that there was no receipt given for this payment and the officer did keep my vehicle registration card (STNK) until the fine was paid.
However, each stop was virtually identical and, what struck me, was that they were all so routine. And the number of tourists in this area of Bali clearly recognizes this fact as well. I watched as scores of foreign tourists arrived at the checkpoint with their STNK’s held by the police officers. The inevitable few minutes of negotiation for a lower ‘fine’ were then quickly paid in cash and the tourists sent on their way. And all of this was repeated scores of times in the hour or so that I remained at the checkpoint. So, 20 tourists stopped in 1 hour, each paying 250,000 rupiah, equals a total of 5 million rupiah or $320 in total for the police in that one hour. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Why Canggu Attracts Police Attention
Canggu as tourist destination has grown rapidly in the last 5 years, changed from quiet fields of rice to tourism and holiday destinations with cafes, coworking spaces, yoga and fitness studios, and many surf schools and shops. Most of the roads in Canggu are very narrow and the traffic has become chaotic over the last years. Many tourists rent scooters to move around but most of them don’t have any valid license for riding a motorcycle. In such environment with many dangers for tourists and locals alike, the police is happy to generate some income by controlling traffic at certain spots and charging fines for not having a valid license.
The Seminyak Double-Stop: Getting Caught Twice in One Day
My worst experience with Bali police checkpoints however, was when I got stopped twice on the same day on Seminyak’s main street Jalan Raya Seminyak. The first time was around 11 am near the Seminyak Square shopping mall. This followed the usual pattern of being stopped for not having an IDP, being informed of the fine of 500,000 IDR, and then negotiating the fine down to 250,000 IDR in cash.
This spot was roughly a 5 minute walk from my hotel, about 2 km away from the stop from earlier in the day where I got fined. The officers from this stop seemed almost bored, obviously in on the racket. The younger of the 2 officers did most of the talking and explained to me that, although I had already been pulled over for breaking the law that morning, this was a completely different stop manned by a completely different police officer. I was therefore required to pay the fine for breaking the law for the second time that day.
The Economics of Multiple Stops
You’d think that with an IDP you’d be able to skip as many checkpoints as possible. However, in Indonesia there is no motorcycle endorsement on most foreign licenses, so even though you have an IDP, police can still fine you for not having the proper license to ride motorcycles on Indonesian soil. What’s more, is that many rental shops in Bali do not bother to check for any form of license before renting out a scooter to tourists. This means that many riders are cruising the streets of Bali without any idea of the laws that apply to them as foreign tourists in Indonesia.
An additional point to consider is that even if a traveler has obtained an IDP before leaving their home country, they may still be pulled over for riding without a license. This is because the IDP is only a translation of the traveler’s valid domestic license, and does not grant any additional permissions to drive on foreign soil. Furthermore, the domestic license in question must include a motorcycle endorsement in order for the IDP to be valid for use on two-wheeled vehicles. Many police around the world are aware of this, and will specifically check for the motorcycle category on a traveler’s license before allowing them to continue on their way.
High-Traffic Areas Mean Higher Risk
Seminyak, which has exploded as a tourist destination in the last five years, has turned into a hub with narrow roads where many foreign tourists drive rental scooters. This, combined with higher numbers of accidents on the roads of Seminyak, means that police are more than happy to patrol the area and stop scooters of tourists without proper documentation. As I mentioned earlier, I am only human and sometimes get things wrong, but hopefully I have highlighted most of the potential errors in this piece.
Which Rental Shops Actually Check for Licenses (Spoiler: Almost None)
At some point I realized that I was going to have to investigate the policies of various rental shops in relation to their customers and licenses. Over the course of two weeks I went to or called twelve different places where they rent motorbikes in Ubud, Canggu and Seminyak. Only one asked if I had a license of any kind before handing over a set of keys. The rest told me that they ‘recommended’ that I be careful, that I know the rules of the road. What this means is that they don’t check to see if you have a license or not before renting a bike to you.
Most rental shops operate on a simple model: they take your passport as collateral, you pay daily or weekly rates (typically 50,000-80,000 IDR per day for a basic scooter), and they hand you the keys. No safety briefing beyond “brake here, gas here.” No verification that you’ve ever ridden a scooter before. No discussion of insurance coverage or what happens if you crash. The entire transaction takes maybe five minutes.
The Liability Gray Zone
Many of the rental shops I spoke to, explained that it is a Police problem, not their problem. Indonesian law stipulates that the rider of a motorcycle is required to have the correct documentation to ride on public roads. However, rental shops can, and do, rent bikes to anyone, and it is up to the Police to check if the rider has the correct documentation, or to issue a fine for not having the correct documentation. The shop owner can then ignore the situation and continue to rent out his bikes to other tourists.
An owner of a bike rental shop in Ubud, Bali acknowledged how most tourists are operating their rental bikes without proper international licenses and how they are stopped by police for violating traffic laws. He said, “Everyone knows tourists don’t have an international license. Police know, we know, and tourists know. It’s like a game. You ride your rental bike, and maybe you get stopped by police while on your trip, and you have to pay a small amount of money and then you can continue your trip. This is the Bali way.” This owner was pointing out the obvious, and how this is normalized in the island’s tourism industry. Riding a bike without a proper license is against the law, but it is often just another one of the many costs of touring in Bali that are factored into the overall price of a trip just like the cost of entrance fees to temples.
Insurance Nightmares Nobody Considers
Here’s your passport safe while riding a rental scooter? It’s a common practice for rental shops to require a tourist’s passport as collateral while renting out a scooter. However, this can lead to problems with your travel insurance if you are involved in an accident while riding a scooter without a valid license. Some travel insurance policies may even explicitly state that they won’t cover you for any activities conducted illegally or without the necessary permits. If this is the case for you, then be extremely cautious when renting out a scooter without an IDP, as you could be exposing yourself to huge financial losses in the event of an accident.
Real Checkpoint Locations and Timing Patterns I Documented
Below is a rough guide to what I found in terms of certain police checkpoints in Ubud and other areas of Bali, as well as when they tend to operate. These are by no means secret, and are designed to give tourists and other foreigners an idea of the common locations in which to expect to find police attempting to fine you. I am not providing this guide for the purpose of enabling tourists to circumvent the law and continue riding around Bali without proper licenses or without paying for the rental of motorbikes. In fact, my intention is the exact opposite. By providing this information, I am hoping that some of you will understand the extent to which enforcement of the laws in place already are, and in many cases already have become, systematic.
Canggu checkpoints can be expected to have checkpoints mainly along Batu Bolong Street and along the main beach road. The time around 3-6 pm is worst here as masses of tourists are returning from the beach clubs and surf spots. Seminyak on the other hand is the hot spot for the most aggressive and frequent checkpoints along Jalan Raya Seminyak at varying times. I have also heard of a checkpoint around Finns Beach Club and along Jalan Petitenget, but I have not encountered them myself.
Timing Patterns That Maximize Tourist Catches
They also don’t run as many in the evening as you would think because of reduced visibility and it’s possible the police have reached their daily quota already. In tourist areas they seem to run more on weekends, in residential areas where there are more locals on the move they are more common on weekdays.
These practices equal out to targeting the largest numbers of foreign tourists that statistically most likely to be riding without proper licensing to ride a scooter in Indonesia. All in all all tourists of foreign nationality are most likely to be pulled over for inspections, while the local people with local licenses and IDPs are most likely to be waived through. Such is the ‘police work’ in Indonesia.
What to Do if You Get Caught Without a License and are Refused to be Let Off With a Fine on the Spot.
The fine needs to be paid in full as well as all the relevant documents filled out. One of the Brits that I spoke to had been stopped by the police in Bali on several occasions before and he had always managed to talk his way out of paying the fine. This time however he decided to be stubborn and insisted on going through the official process of paying his fine. After four hours at the police station in Denpasar he finally got his receipt and was able to leave with his bike. His fine had come to 500,000 IDR and there had been no negotiations at all.
However one woman was stopped in Denpasar for riding a rented bike without an IDP. She was insisting that her home state license was sufficient to enable her to rent and drive a motorbike in Bali, but the officer was insistent that she was committing an offense and required to pay a fine of 300,000 rupiah. The woman managed to negotiate for a while but was eventually worn down and agreed to pay the fine on the spot to retrieve her bike and STNK. She had to return to the police station to collect her registration as the officer kept it as evidence.
The Passport Complication
In many places it is common for rental shops to hold on to your actual passport while you rent a motorbike, or even your STNK, rather than just a copy of your passport. So if you are caught by the police for not having the proper documents to drive and the rental shop is holding on to your actual passport (in a safe no doubt), then the police have several options, they could let you off with a fine and you then go and retrieve your passport, they could hold you until you can get your passport back, or they could simply confiscate your STNK and charge you for not having proper identification while driving. If a foreigner is caught driving without proper identification, the police could technically detain you until you can prove your identity, and this would mean your whole trip is ruined while you try to sort out your passport while the police are holding your motorbike and registration. This is one reason why most tourists carry just a photo of their passport on their phone, which is against the law, but then most tourists are breaking the law in many other ways too.
Getting an International Driving Permit.
I have an International Driving Permit (IDP) and I am shocked that more people do not have one. In the US the IDP can be obtained through the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA) or through AAA (American Automobile Association). It takes about 15 minutes at a local AAA office to obtain an IDP. You will need a valid driver’s license, 2 passport sized photos, $20 and a completed application. The IDP is good for 1 year from the date it was issued. The IDP is not valid unless the underlying driver’s license includes motorcycle privileges. Therefore, if you only have a regular car driver’s license, you would first need to obtain a motorcycle endorsement on your regular driver’s license and then obtain an IDP. There are many people who believe that any valid driver’s license and an IDP is all you need to drive a motorcycle in foreign countries. This is not the case.
Important Note: Your IDP is only valid if your home country driver’s license includes motorcycle privileges. If you have a regular car license in your home country then you will need to get a motorcycle endorsement on your license before you can get an IDP that is valid for riding scooters in Indonesia. Many tourists make this mistake thinking their home country driver’s license plus an IDP is enough to allow them to legally ride scooters while they are tourists in Indonesia.
The Motorcycle Endorsement Requirement
After research, I found out that in the United States, requirements for obtaining a motorcycle endorsement on a driver’s license vary from state to state. In California, a person would need to pass a written test (for Class M License), a motorcycle skills test, or complete an approved safety riding course. The tests and the completion of the safety riding course can take anywhere from a few weeks to a weekend, where the entire program is to be completed within a few days. That being said, most tourists wouldn’t even think of this while planning for their trip to Bali, thinking that the tourist driver’s license plus an IDP is sufficient for touring on two wheels.
Also IDPs are issued in a different way in different countries. Europeans seem to have no problem at all, but I have met one or two who were unsure. Presumably it’s up to the officer whether or not to accept a document. I suppose it is inevitable that some people will try to blag their way past officials at a checkpoint. But as we saw, that could result in them having to spend the rest of their holiday at a police station, so it’s hardly worth the risk. And the rely on is entirely on the police side. They have your registration card, which means you can’t legally ride away. You’re stuck until you resolve the situation their way.
I book the second option and wait to see if they run out of rooms at the first option.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Getting Proper Documentation
Cost of the IDP: $20. A motorcycle endorsement can cost $200-400 depending on the state where you live and what kind of training you need. So total cost of getting proper documentation to rent motorcycles in Southeast Asia: $400 maximum. I got fined $77 at two different times during my two week stint in Bali. If I had stayed for a month or two, or returned to Indonesia for another extended stay, my fines could have easily added up to more than the cost of proper documentation to ride all over Indonesia. But in addition to saving money, the IDP and the motorcycle endorsement also give me legal status to be on the road in Indonesia. And, most importantly, with proper documentation, I am covered by my travel insurance in the event of an accident.
The real cost of riding without proper documentation isn’t the fine at the checkpoint; it’s the potential for a massive six-figure liability for serious accidents for which you are uninsured as you were operating illegally. How to Actually Get an International Driving Permit (And Why You Should)
After looking into this a bit further and discussing with several people who travel to Southeast Asia on a regular basis, I realized that what really opened my eyes about the issue of fines and the larger problem of tourists not having proper licenses were two facts. First, Bali has an extremely high rate of motorcycle accidents for a place in Indonesia and second, tourists are involved in a very large proportion of those serious injuries and fatalities.
The vast majority of tourists arrive in Bali for their holiday and hit the roads on a hired scooter for the very first time. The learning curve is massive as they get to grips to riding on the LEFT side of the road in a country where the vast majority of the population are accustomed to riding on the RIGHT. Add to that the fact that the vast majority of Tourists have no prior experience of riding a 2 wheeled vehicle and the chances of having a serious accident are increased ten fold. A large proportion of the Tourists that end up in BIMC with serious injuries are riders that have been on the roads for a very short period of time. Some for just hours. That is why there is a Licensing requirement for riders of motorcycles and scooters in most countries around the world. Not to restrict freedom, but to ensure that all riders have the minimum level of competency and safety knowledge to ride on public roads without putting themselves or others at risk of serious injury.
What Hospitals See That Tourists Don’t
In particular I spoke with a nurse at BIMC Hospital who works there for the last 6 years treating all sorts of tourists injuries. She said she sees tourists arrive with horrific injuries. And then after she has done her best to treat them, they realize that because they were riding motorcycles illegally while in Indonesia, their insurance won’t cover any of the costs. To give you an idea of the sort of costs we are talking about here, families have had to transfer tens of thousands of dollars to pay for the emergency surgery and subsequent medical evacuation of a loved one. In some cases, tourists have even ended up having to stay in Bali for weeks or even months to fully recover from their injuries. In such cases, they are unable to afford the cost of proper treatment and have to rely on crowdfunding campaigns in a bid to raise the necessary cash to pay for their treatment in full.
Please do not assume that just because you did not cause the accident then you will not be held responsible and fined. In many cases tourists are left to pay for the injuries of other people involved in the accident as the other party may not have medical insurance.
My Honest Recommendation After Four Checkpoint Stops
No, I would not rent a motorcycle in Bali without first obtaining the required international documentation (IDP) for an foreign issued driver’s license to use on public roads. Even the occasional annoying fine of $77 per occasion at a police “checkpoint” for not having the required paperwork did not compare to the risk of causing serious injury or even death and then being held financially responsible as an uninsured foreigner for the resulting damage. The documentation process, which requires a trip to your local Division of Motor Vehicles office to obtain the IDP and endorsement on your home state issued motorcycle endorsement and cost approximately $400, paid for themselves quickly as the total of my four fines would only have had to occur one more time.
Planning for your trip: Getting the proper documentation to ride a scooter in Bali involves a bit of planning before leaving home and incurring a cost. First get your motorcycle endorsement on your current license. Then get an International Driving Permit (IDP). Last, check on the coverage for rental of motorcycles while traveling overseas with your current travel insurance. If you are planning on touring Southeast Asia for an extended period of time and need to use a scooter for getting around, then it is worth spending the time and money required to obtain the proper documentation to legally and safely ride a scooter while touring the region.
Riding without the proper documentation of a motorcycle endorsement to your license and an IDP to prove your ability to drive in Bali has its inherent risks. Yes, there are likely to be many, many others who are traveling to Bali on vacation and are renting scooters by the day in order to travel from place to place. If you’re one of these tourists, you likely don’t want any part of the hassle of dealing with the legal ramifications of an accident. If that’s the case, you might want to ask yourself whether or not the increased mobility of having your own scooter is worth the inherent risk to your finances that comes with operating a vehicle on public roads without having the proper documentation. Just keep in mind that the cost of the fines for being stopped at a checkpoint on the way to your accommodations for the night is likely to be less than the cost of your accommodations for the night, and then factor that into your travel budget as you would any other expected expense. Just bring enough cash with you to pay for any on the spot settlements that may be required, and be aware that, without the proper documentation, you will be entirely uninsured in the event that you cause an accident or are involved in one in which you are injured. Ride with your eyes open and assume that every other driver on the road is driving recklessly and doesn’t see you.
I can confidently say that the experience of renting a scooter in Bali was incredible. The freedom of touring the island on two wheels was a huge part of the adventure, and one that I will not soon forget. However, with that freedom comes a huge amount of responsibility, and for many tourists, the huge amount of risk that comes with riding a scooter on unfamiliar and chaotic roads. I was lucky in Bali. I was stopped at four different checkpoints while riding my scooter, but each time I was let off with a fine for 77 dollars. I was not as lucky in the sense that I did not suffer any serious injuries in an accident. But that could have easily been the case. And that is why I am choosing to advise against renting a scooter in Bali without proper documentation. Yes, it may cost a bit of money and require some planning ahead of time, but the alternative is to take a huge risk and hopefully get away with it. I would hate for someone to have a terrible accident and suffer serious injury while touring Bali on a scooter because they chose to ignore the rules and ride without proper documentation. The reason that the rules exist is to protect us, and to keep us safe while touring foreign countries on two wheels.
References
[1] BIMC Hospital Bali – Annual report on tourist injury treatment and motorcycle accident statistics in Bali’s tourist areas
[2] Indonesian National Police Traffic Division – Official guidelines on international driving permit requirements and motorcycle licensing for foreign visitors
[3] U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Consular Affairs travel advisory on motorcycle safety and licensing requirements in Indonesia
[4] World Health Organization – Global Status Report on Road Safety, Southeast Asia regional data on motorcycle accident rates and tourist injuries.
[5] International Automobile Federation (FIA) – Guidelines on international driving permits and cross-border vehicle operation regulations
Reviewed by Owen Park. Owen verified the trip-planning details against current consular bulletins.
Editor’s note: This article was reviewed against primary sources, official travel data, and traveler interviews where applicable. Prices, routes, and conditions were verified before publication. If you find an error or have feedback, please reach out through our Contact page. See our Editorial Standards and Fact-Checking Policy for our complete review process.
