Analysis of Business Licensing Service Quality in the Central Java Provincial Government

Abstract

Business licensing services represent a strategic component of public service because they provide legal certainty for business activities while simultaneously influencing regional investment conditions. This study aims to analyze the quality of business licensing services provided by the Investment and One-Stop Integrated Services Agency (DPMPTSP) of Central Java Province and identify factors affecting service quality. This research employs a descriptive qualitative approach. Data were collected through interviews, observation, documentation, and administrative information relevant to licensing services. Informants were selected purposively from DPMPTSP Central Java, technical regional agencies involved in licensing recommendations, business actors accessing licensing services, and representatives of business associations. Data were analyzed through data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings indicate a substantial expansion in licensing services, from 5,726 issued licenses in 2020 to 53,550 in 2024. Nevertheless, public complaints persisted and increased from 46 cases in 2020 to 78 cases in 2024. Sectoral data reveal a particularly strong concentration of complaints in the Energy and Mineral Resources sector, which recorded 312 complaints. Moreover, Central Java ranked first nationally in service performance in 2021 and 2022 but subsequently fell outside the three highest-ranked provinces in 2023 and 2024. These findings reveal a service expansion-quality consistency gap, whereby increasing administrative output has not automatically resulted in consistent service quality across sectors. Strengthening human resource capacity, improving digital licensing processes, simplifying cross-sector procedures, and utilizing complaint data as a systematic evaluation mechanism are therefore essential for sustaining service quality and regional competitiveness.