PP 37/1998 in English: the PPAT, article by article

The official who makes the deed every Bali transfer is registered on. Who may hold the office, where, what they may charge, and the violations that end it.

PP 37/1998 and PP 24/2016, the articles a buyer meets, in order

The PPAT is the one official no Bali transfer can avoid: a transfer of a registered land right is only registrable on a PPAT deed (PP 24/1997 art. 37(1)). This regulation decides who that official is and what they may and may not do. It dates from 1998; most of what matters now is in the 2016 amendment, which was set on 22 June 2016 and promulgated on 27 June 2016 (PP 24/2016, signature and promulgation block).

Who may hold the office, and what they may combine it with

To be appointed a PPAT must be an Indonesian citizen of at least 22, with a law degree plus a notarial master's degree or the ministry's PPAT program, who has passed the ministry's exam and spent at least a year in a PPAT office (PP 37/1998 art. 6(1), as amended by PP 24/2016). A PPAT may also be a notary, at the notary's seat (PP 37/1998 art. 7(1), as amended by PP 24/2016) — which is why most Bali buyers meet one person in two roles — but may not also be an advocate or legal consultant, employee, state official, licensed surveyor, land valuer or mediator (PP 37/1998 art. 7(2), as amended by PP 24/2016).

The bar on being an advocate or legal consultant is the line to remember. The PPAT records the transaction for both sides; the PPAT is not your lawyer and, by regulation, cannot be. If you want someone whose job is your interest, that is a separate appointment. Notary and PPAT, and what each does.

Where they may work

The working area is one province (PP 24/2016 art. 12(1)); the PPAT is seated in a regency or city inside that province (PP 24/2016 art. 12A) and keeps only one office, at its seat — the same office as its notary practice, if it has one (PP 37/1998 art. 20(1)-(1a), as amended by PP 24/2016). In Bali that means any PPAT appointed in the province can make the deed for land anywhere on the island. It also means a “branch office” is not a thing a PPAT can lawfully have.

The fee, and what counts as a violation

The fee article was not touched in 2016. The fee is capped at 1% of the transaction price stated in the deed, witnesses included (PP 37/1998 art. 32(1)), the service is free of charge to a person unable to pay (PP 37/1998 art. 32(2)), and the PPAT is prohibited from any charge outside the cap (PP 37/1998 art. 32(3)). Charging more is a light violation of the PPAT's office (PP 24/2016, elucidation to art. 10). The fee caps against what is quoted.

The heavy violations — grounds for dishonourable dismissal — are a practical checklist for the signing appointment. They include making a deed without the parties present, not reading it to them, making a deed over land still in dispute, and opening a branch office (PP 24/2016, elucidation to art. 10(3)(a)). A deed signed by a seller who was not in the room, or a deed that was never read aloud, is not a formality skipped; it is a heavy violation of the office.

When the PPAT stops

A PPAT retires at 65, extendable to 67 (PP 37/1998 art. 8(1)(b), (2), as amended by PP 24/2016). When a PPAT stops, the protocol — the register of deeds, the originals and the supporting documents — must be handed to another PPAT in the working area (art. 27(1), as amended). That is where a copy of an old deed is found when the original PPAT has gone.

Where it sits

PP 37/1998 governs the official; the land-registration regulation governs the deed’s place in registration, including when the PPAT must refuse to act. PP 24/1997, article by article. The tax regulation decides what must be paid before the PPAT may sign — PP 34/2016. Exams, apprenticeship and appointment are left to a ministerial regulation we have not read.

We do not recommend or rank PPATs. This is commentary on the official text, which is the authority.

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