Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry is cracking down on hotel quarantine scams allegedly perpetrated by organised groups, dubbed “quarantine mafia”, against foreign tourists.

The alleged scam involves tourists being told at the end of their hotel quarantine period that their PCR test result is positive, so they are forced into an ‘isolation hotel’ where they pay for further accommodation.

An ‘isolation hotel’ only houses those tourists who have tested positive during quarantine.

The tourists, despite having no symptoms, were also not allowed to get a second test to confirm the positive result.

Indonesian authorities have since cracked down on the alleged scam by allowing travellers to get an independent second test.

Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno told the ABC that the Indonesian government had put in place new regulations and standards “to deal with the ‘quarantine mafia’ practices”.

“The Ministry of Tourism … are investigating and will give heavy punishment to those who break the government’s rules,” he said.

Mr Uno’s comments come after President Joko Widodo ordered the national police to investigate reports of cons in the quarantine system.

Police created a special team to handle allegations of that scam, perpetrated by organised or systematic groups connected to the hotels.

Twelve hotels occupied by 300 Indonesian citizens and 417 foreigners were investigated, police told local media.

The ABC contacted police to find out what the outcome of this investigation was but has not received a response.

“The national police will take a firm action towards everyone who is involved in the quarantine’s foul play because their doing will damage the country’s good image in the eyes of the world,” police said in early February.

The Tourism Ministry said it received “many reports from foreigners who felt aggrieved by individuals who allegedly participate in ‘quarantine mafia’ activities”.

One of the reports came from a Ukrainian woman who was asked by the hotel staff in Jakarta to stay longer and pay a higher rate, after receiving a positive result on her last day in quarantine, Minister Uno said.

“The hotel staff made an excuse that the PCR test result was positive,” he told ABC.

“The ministry … helped the woman get another PCR test and the result came out negative, so she didn’t have to extend her stay at the hotel.”

The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) has denied allegations of quarantine scams, saying foreigners’ experiences might have been the product of “miscommunication”.

“There is no such thing as so-called mafia in hotel quarantine,” PHRI’s quarantine hotel coordinator Vivi Herlambang told the ABC.

“You can try to find [the evidence] of this because we never found it,” she said, adding the providers of hotel quarantine services have not breached any regulations.

Source: abc.net.au