Before you start

A valid home-country licence, plus a 1949-Convention International Driving Permit obtained before you fly — you cannot get a foreign IDP in Indonesia
A KITAS or KITAP to apply for an Indonesian SIM; tourist and visit-visa holders cannot apply directly
Passport and stay-permit photocopies, and in practice an SKTT or other address proof at many Satpas counters
A helmet for every motorbike trip, including as a pillion passenger — this is the single most enforced rule on the road

Step-by-step

1
Arrive with an IDP that covers what you will actually drive
An IDP translates your existing entitlements; it does not create new ones. If you plan to ride a scooter, the motorcycle category must already be on your home licence before the IDP is issued. Carry the IDP and the physical home licence together — police checking documents want both, and an IDP alone is not valid.
In personWho: You, in your home country before departureSame day to a week from your national motoring organisationRoughly USD 20–50 abroad
2
Apply for the Indonesian SIM at a Jakarta Satpas
Go to a Satpas (SIM administration unit) with passport, KITAS and photocopies. You sit a computer-based psychology screening and a short health check — blood pressure and eyesight — at clinics attached to the site, then a theory test and, depending on the office, a practical test. The card is usually printed the same day. SIM A covers private cars up to 3,500 kg; SIM C covers motorcycles.
In personWho: You, as a KITAS or KITAP holderOne morning if you arrive early with documents in orderState fee plus screenings; foreigners commonly report a total in the low hundreds of thousands of rupiah
3
Check the expiry date printed on the card before you leave the counter
Article 4(1) of Perpol 5/2021 sets a five-year term for a standard SIM and draws no distinction between Indonesian and foreign holders — five years is the rule, not a best case. The shorter foreigner-specific terms still quoted on some police-service pages, tying validity to a work permit or a tourist stay, describe the pre-2021 arrangement rather than the current one. Read the expiry printed on the card anyway and diarise it, and if a counter issues something shorter, the regulation is the thing to point at.
In personWho: YouAt issue
4
Learn ganjil-genap and plan around it rather than gambling
On around 26 road segments — Sudirman, Thamrin, Rasuna Said, Gatot Subroto and the main arterials among them — cars with odd-numbered plates may run only on odd dates and even on even, Monday to Friday from 06:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 21:00, suspended on national holidays. Motorcycles and battery-electric cars are exempt. The segment list is revised periodically, so check the current map rather than a saved screenshot.
OnlineWho: Any car driverFines up to IDR 500,000
5
Assume you are being photographed, not pulled over
Since October 2022 police have been barred from collecting cash fines at the roadside; enforcement runs through the electronic ticketing system, and in Jakarta largely through fixed ETLE cameras that read the plate and send a notice to the registered owner's address. If you drive a company or rental car, the notice goes to the company or rental firm — agree in advance who pays and how you find out, because you will otherwise learn about it at renewal time.
OnlineWho: You and whoever the vehicle is registered toFines paid via bank transfer or app, never in cash to an officer

Documents you’ll need

Home-country driving licence, physical card, with the categories you intend to use
International Driving Permit issued abroad, carried with the home licence
Passport and KITAS or KITAP, plus photocopies, for the SIM application
Psychology-screening slip and health certificate from the clinics at the Satpas
Vehicle registration (STNK) for whatever you drive — carry it, it is checked more often than the licence

Things most newcomers don’t know

Jakarta's ETLE cameras mean the ticket follows the vehicle's registered owner, not the driver.

Enforcement here is overwhelmingly automated rather than roadside. The notice goes to the address on the STNK registration, so if you drive a company car, a leased car or a friend's car, someone else receives the fine and you may never hear about it until the vehicle's annual tax renewal is blocked. Settle who is responsible in writing before you take the keys.

Source: Korlantas POLRI e-tilang / ETLE programme

Police cannot lawfully take cash at the roadside, and asking for the official ticket usually ends the conversation.

A national police telegram of 18 October 2022 — ST/2264/X/HUM.3.4.5./2022 — ended manual on-the-spot ticketing in favour of the electronic system. A real ticket records the officer's name and creates a paper trail, so politely requesting one removes the incentive behind a cash 'damai' settlement. This is not confrontational — it is simply asking for the process the law now requires.

Source: Kapolri telegram ST/2264/X/HUM.3.4.5./2022, 18 October 2022

The motorcycle ban on Thamrin and Medan Merdeka Barat was annulled in 2017 and is still described as current in circulating guides.

Governor's Regulation 195/2014 barred motorbikes from those roads; the Supreme Court struck it down in decision 57 P/HUM/2017 and the roads reopened to motorcycles in January 2018. Guides written between 2015 and 2017 were never updated and are still copied. If you plan to ride, check the current signage rather than an article, because Jakarta genuinely does change road rules and the reliable source is the road itself.

Source: Supreme Court decision 57 P/HUM/2017

For most people in Jakarta the rational answer is not to drive at all.

A car costs you the odd-even restriction, parking, a driver's salary if you want to work in traffic, and the worst congestion in the country. The MRT and TransJakarta on a JakLingko card, plus ojol for the last kilometre, covers the south and centre for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time. People who arrive assuming they need a car often sell it within a year.

Source: TransJakarta / MRT Jakarta; JakLingko

Common mistakes to avoid

Riding a scooter on a car-only home licence or IDP — illegal, and it voids most travel and health insurance after an accident.
Working from an outdated guide that says a foreigner's SIM expires with the stay permit — Perpol 5/2021 sets five years for everyone, so check the card and challenge anything shorter.
Driving into a ganjil-genap corridor on the wrong date because you checked an old segment map — the list is revised.
Paying cash to an officer at the roadside; fines go through the electronic system and cash payment is a bribe, not a fine.
Driving a company or rental car without agreeing who receives and pays ETLE camera notices, which arrive by post to the registered owner.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.