Exclusive rights given to Tugu Pratama should be abolished

State oil and gas company Pertamina should have the courage to abolish the exclusive rights given to its insurance subsidiary PT Tugu Pratama Indonesia in providing insurance services to oil and gas related industries, according to a senior official of the state owned insurance company PT Jasindo.

Jasindo's president Amiruddin Riayat said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the abolishment of the monopoly given to PT Tugu Pratama was important to ensure a level playing ground for the country's insurance industry.

He said that the removal of the monopoly was also needed in order to create a better check and balance whether it is related to tariff or in service quality. But he warned that if the monopoly is removed, Pertamina should be selective in choosing which insurance companies it wanted to hire.

"I don't agree if all insurance companies are allowed to enter the oil and gas industries because not all of them are viable enough to provide such practices," he was quoted as saying by Media Indonesia.

PT Tugu Pratama, which is majority owned by Pertamina, has been for years given the exclusive rights to provide insurance services to the state oil company and its production-sharing contractors. (*)