Girik, letter C, petok D and pipil: no longer proof of title since 2 February 2026

Five years to register, then the paper becomes an indication, not proof — and the land itself does not change status. What the two regulations say, and what it means for a Bali lease.

Girik, letter C, petok D and pipil: the articles that decide them

Before a parcel has a certificate, its history is usually on paper of another kind — a tax-era girik or pipil, a village land book entry, a letter signed by the village head. Two regulations decide what that paper is worth: PP 24/1997 on land registration, which lists it, and PP 18/2021, which put a deadline on it.

What changed on 2 February 2026

PP 18/2021 is dated 2 February 2021, in force the day it was promulgated (PP 18/2021, art. 104 and signature block). Its article 96 says that written evidence of former adat land held by an individual must be registered within 5 years of PP 18/2021 coming into force (PP 18/2021 art. 96(1)). When that period ends, the evidence is no longer valid and cannot be used to prove a land right — only as an indication in land registration (PP 18/2021 art. 96(2)). Five years from 2 February 2021 is 2 February 2026.

The elucidation limits what that means. It says the evidence concerns land for which no certificate has yet been issued, that five years was taken as the time to finish registration across Indonesia, and that losing the paper does not change the status of the land (PP 18/2021, elucidation to art. 96(1)). The land does not pass to the State by this article; what changes is that the paper no longer proves a right by itself.

Two neighboring articles complete the picture. Letters issued by a village head, lurah or camat — land statements, compensation letters, village letters — are only an indication in land registration (PP 18/2021 art. 97), with no deadline attached. And written evidence of former Western (colonial-era) rights is no longer valid, and the land becomes land directly controlled by the State (PP 18/2021 art. 95(1)).

What the documents are, in the regulation’s own list

PP 24/1997 lists the written evidence that proves a right converted from the old system. The items a Bali buyer is likely to meet are these:

Neither “letter C” nor “petok D” appears by that name. They do not need to: the list ends with other forms of written evidence, by whatever name (PP 24/1997, elucidation to art. 24(1)(m)), and article 96 of PP 18/2021 speaks of written evidence of former adat land generally. Pipil — the word Bali uses — is in the list itself.

An SPPT, the annual land and building tax bill, is not on it. That tax falls on land and buildings owned, controlled or used by a person or entity (Law 1/2022 (HKPD) art. 38(1)); the name on the bill can be an occupier. How PBB works in Bali.

How such land gets a certificate now

Through registration, as before — the old paper is now an indication rather than proof. PP 24/1997 accepts written evidence, or a sufficiency finding (PP 24/1997 art. 24(1)), and where written evidence is incomplete or gone, witness testimony or a credible statement from the person concerned (PP 24/1997, elucidation to art. 24(1)).

Where there is no usable evidence at all, a right can be booked on physical possession for twenty consecutive years (PP 24/1997 art. 24(2)), held in good faith and openly as the rightful holder, backed by credible witnesses, and unchallenged by the adat community, the village or anyone else before and during the announcement (PP 24/1997 art. 24(2)(a)-(b)). The written statement of physical possession filed with such an application is the document known as a sporadik — the word comes from sporadic registration, the individual route in PP 24/1997. Before the right is booked, the data and parcel map are published for objections for 30 days in systematic registration and 60 days in sporadic registration (PP 24/1997 art. 26(1)).

Land that is still communal adat land is a different case — ulayat and customary land.

What it means if you are leasing or buying in Bali

A foreigner cannot hold hak milik in any case — the Basic Agrarian Law reserves it to Indonesian citizens only (UUPA (Law 5/1960) art. 21(1)) — so a foreigner meets girik or pipil land through a lease, or through an Indonesian seller or partner. Three things follow from the articles above.

• The landowner’s paper proves less than it did. Since February 2026 a girik or pipil on its own is an indication for registration, not proof of the lessor’s right.
• A lease cannot be noted on a certificate that does not exist. A lease is not among the objects of land registration (PP 24/1997 art. 9(1)), but it can be recorded on the public register and/or the land certificate (PP 18/2021 art. 90) — once there is one.
• Certification is the protection to ask for. On our reading, the clean course is for the landowner to complete registration before the lease is signed, or for the lease to make it a condition. The objection period alone is 60 days in sporadic registration (PP 24/1997 art. 26(1)).

Checking a land certificate · the due diligence checklist · leasehold explained.

This is commentary on the official text, not legal advice on any parcel. Registration practice varies between land offices; confirm the route with the office for the regency.

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