SIM card or eSIM in Bali: what the operators charge and what the law asks

Seven of the eight results for "sim card bali" sell an eSIM or earn a commission on one, and they frame the choice as SIM versus eSIM. That is a question of format. The line the law draws runs elsewhere: between a local Indonesian number, physical or eSIM, which is registered to an identity document, and a foreign travel eSIM such as Airalo's, which asks no identity check and has you turn on data roaming.

A local number, SIM or eSIM

Registration is governed by Permen Komdigi No. 7 Tahun 2026, in force from the day it was promulgated, 19 January 2026 (Pasal 34). The BPK record shows it Berlaku, with no amendment. Its Pasal 33 revokes the registration articles of Permenkominfo 5/2021, Pasal 153 to 175, so a guide citing the 2021 rules is citing withdrawn text.

For a foreign national, Pasal 3 ayat (1) huruf b asks for two things: the number being used, and "paspor, Kartu Izin Tinggal Tetap (KITAP), atau Kartu Izin Tinggal Terbatas (KITAS)". Atau means or. A passport alone is enough. Komdigi's own news summary of 23 January 2026 turns this into passport and a valid stay document. The regulation does not say that, and we follow the regulation.

Format changes nothing. The eSIM clause, Pasal 3 ayat (3), is written only for Indonesian citizens; there is no eSIM rule for foreigners, so a tourist's local eSIM is registered like any other prepaid number.

Nor does the regulation ask for the phone's IMEI. What Pasal 6 ayat (3) has staff record is "paling sedikit", at least, a name, a document number, a nationality, and a place and date of birth. Telkomsel, XL and Smartfren ask for the IMEI anyway, on every tourist route they publish. That demand comes from the IMEI control regime, set out on the IMEI page, and it settles whether a local eSIM gets around the IMEI question. It does not.

A foreign travel eSIM

Airalo, which sells one, describes its Indonesia product in its own words (blog updated 8 July 2026): "No eKYC check required", data only, and an installation step that reads "Toggle on Data Roaming".

Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 3 ayat (5) exempts from IMEI verification a device with a "kartu Subscriber Identification Module negara asing (inbound roamer)" on international roaming. That a foreign travel eSIM falls under this exemption is our inference, not a sourced fact. The text says a foreign SIM card and does not mention eSIM profiles, and no primary source confirms, product by product, that a given eSIM runs on a foreign network identity. What can be said is that Airalo's setup has you turn on data roaming, while its blog tells buyers "There are no roaming fees".

What the operators publish

Every price below was read on the operator's own page on 10 September 2026. Kiosk and reseller prices are left out: no official source publishes them.

Telkomsel: one card, two prices

Telkomsel's Tourist Prepaid Card, says its FAQ, "hanya dapat dibeli oleh turis mancanegara dengan validasi data menggunakan paspor dan IMEI": foreign tourists only, validated by passport and IMEI. It is pre-ordered online and picked up on arrival, or bought at selected GraPARI outlets. Pick-up is "only in Bali and Mandalika Lombok areas".

What it costs depends on which Telkomsel page you read.

Neither page is dated. On 10 September 2026 Telkomsel's tourist product pages returned "Page not found", "Request Rejected" or a redirect to the homepage, and the pre-order link tsel.me/preordersim redirects to a maintenance page. We print both prices and pick neither.

Telkomsel's regular eSIM is not a tourist route. Its eSIM page says foreign citizens are "validated by Limited Stay Permit (KITAS)".

XL: an eSIM paid before arrival, or a SIM registered on the website

XL sells its tourist eSIM online, payable "even when you haven't arrived in Indonesia", to holders of a valid foreign passport only. Have the passport, an email address and the phone's IMEI ready. The QR code arrives by email, and XL tells the buyer to check "within 1 hour" for an SMS from 4444. It is "not refundable under any circumstances".

No quota is printed for XXXL because XL's page gives two: 15GB on the plan card, 150GB in the page's own data.

The physical tourist SIM is bought at a retail outlet. The buyer then registers the number on XL's website with passport, email and IMEI, and XL says "Your SIM will be activated within the next hour." This page carries no price for it.

Smartfren: an eSIM, entirely online

Its tourist eSIM page says "Complete all process 100% online" and asks for a screenshot of the device IMEI, a valid passport and a "Selfie with Passport". Verification takes 15 minutes between 7:00 and 22:00 GMT+7, which is 08:00 to 23:00 in Bali, and up to eight hours outside those hours. A device already used on a Smartfren number also needs a photo of the visa.

Validity "can be extended for up to 90 days".

Whatever a pack says, Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 6 ayat (2) allows, but does not oblige, the operator to give a tourist's phone on a local number up to 90 days of network access. Staying longer means declaring the phone to customs on arrival, as the IMEI page explains.

IM3 (Indosat)

IM3's "Traveling to Indonesia" page lists Travel On 30GB at Rp 100,000 for 30 days, with 10 minutes of domestic calls and calls to 50 countries, and Travel On 80GB at Rp 200,000 for 30 days, with 30 minutes. It publishes no registration procedure for foreigners. Indosat's registration portal, registrasi.ioh.co.id, offers only the NIK and face-recognition route.

Where registration happens: the text and the market

Pasal 4 allows two routes for prepaid registration, "a. di gerai Penyelenggara Jasa Telekomunikasi; atau b. sendiri": at the operator's outlet, or by the subscriber. Only the first is written for foreigners. Under Pasal 6 ayat (1), outlet registration "bagi Warga Negara Asing dilakukan oleh petugas gerai", by outlet staff the operator designates. The self-service route, Pasal 7 ayat (2) huruf c, has the applicant enter an NIK, the Indonesian population number, and pass a face-recognition match. As written it has no branch for a foreigner.

Pasal 1 angka 12 defines the foreigner's check, Verifikasi, as matching the applicant's data "secara visual oleh petugas Registrasi". A person looks. Indonesians are validated against the population database instead (angka 13).

The market runs a third route. XL and Smartfren register tourist eSIMs remotely, and XL has the buyer of its physical SIM register on the website. Smartfren's staffed hours and XL's chat with an agent point to a human reviewer, which fits the visual check of Pasal 1 angka 12; Pasal 6 puts that reviewer at a gerai. The regulation does not address remote verification of foreigners, and no Komdigi publication we found does. We record it as a gap between the text and practice, not as a violation. XL's physical tourist SIM still starts at a shop: its own page says to "purchase the SIM Card and ask the Retail Number to continue the registration".

Komdigi's release of 29 May 2026 put biometric registration in force "secara penuh mulai 1 Juli 2026 untuk setiap aktivasi nomor baru", with operators adapted "melalui gerai layanan, aplikasi, maupun situs resmi". It says nothing about foreigners. The statute's own outer deadline for operators, six months from promulgation under Pasal 32, fell on 19 July 2026. Both dates are past.

Two limits in the text

Pasal 11 forbids activating a foreigner's number before the identity is verified, then requires activation "paling lambat 1 x 24 jam" after it. That is a ceiling on the operator, not a promised wait.

Pasal 14 ayat (1) bars an operator from registering more than "3 (tiga) Nomor Pelanggan untuk setiap identitas Pelanggan Jasa Telekomunikasi pada setiap Penyelenggara". A visitor's identity is the passport, so the limit is three numbers per passport with each operator, not three in total.

What we could not establish

• Whether Telkomsel still sells its tourist card. Its product page now
• redirects to an address ending tourist-SIMPATI-card-off that reads Page
• not found, which may mean the product is withdrawn.
• Which Telkomsel price is current, Rp 150,000 or Rp 100,000. Neither page is
• dated, and the product pages and pre-order link are unreachable.
• Whether Telkomsel sells a tourist eSIM to a visitor without a KITAS. Its eSIM
• page says KITAS; the page that may say otherwise could not be opened.
• How IM3 registers a foreigner, and where Travel On is sold. Neither is
• published.
• Whether remote, agent-verified registration of foreigners, as XL and
• Smartfren run it, satisfies Pasal 6. The text does not address it, and no
• Komdigi publication we found does.
• The quota of XL's XXXL plan, 15GB or 150GB.
• Whether a given foreign travel eSIM runs on a foreign network identity,
• making it an inbound roamer under Pasal 3 ayat (5). Sellers' descriptions
• point that way; no primary source confirms it per product.
• Airport kiosk prices. No official source publishes them, and only a survey on
• site could.
• Coverage. Every competing page names Telkomsel strongest in Bali, and none
• cites a measurement. We found no regulator data either.