Can a Scooter Rental or Hotel in Bali Keep Your Passport?

No Indonesian rule requires you to hand over your original passport as security to a scooter rental or a hotel. Hotels must report foreign guests to Immigration, but that duty is met with your passport data or a scan. A rental that asks to keep your passport is following a trade habit, not a law. Everything below was checked in October 2026.

Who does a passport belong to?

A passport is a document of the issuing state, not ordinary personal property you can pawn. Many passports say so plainly: a British passport states that it remains the property of the UK government, and an Australian passport states that it remains the property of the Commonwealth of Australia. Handing it to a private business as security for a debt or rental generally goes against the rules of your own issuing country.

What does Indonesian law say?

• Article 71 of Law 6/2011 on Immigration requires foreigners to show their travel document or stay permit when an on-duty immigration officer asks. If your passport is sitting at a rental shop, you cannot meet that duty, and Bali's "Dharma Dewata" immigration patrols have been active since April 2026.
• Article 72 of the same law requires owners or managers of accommodation to provide data on foreign guests when an immigration officer asks. Reporting is done through the Foreigner Reporting Application (APOA). What is needed is data, so a hotel only has to scan or photograph the bio page and hand the passport back.
• The law contains no provision allowing accommodation or rental businesses to hold a guest's passport.

When you need to carry the original is covered in do tourists have to carry their passport in Bali, and the reporting duty for rented villas is in staying in an Airbnb villa and APOA.

Why do scooter rentals still ask for passports?

Because a passport is the strongest guarantee an owner can get: a tourist cannot fly home without it. One Bali rental owner told detikBali (2023) that he kept the passports of foreign renters who did not seem trustworthy. In the same year, several Bali police precincts asked rentals to record a copy of the foreign renter's passport and licence, a copy, not the original. Licences and riding rules are covered in Bali scooter rental and riding rules.

What are the risks if your passport is held?

• You cannot show your passport during an immigration check.
• You cannot check in at your next hotel, take a domestic flight or change money at a licensed money changer.
• The passport becomes leverage in a dispute, for example over a scratch or damage bill you think is unfair.
• It can be lost or damaged in a shop drawer, and replacing it takes days at an embassy or consulate.

What can you offer instead?

• A cash deposit with a written receipt stating the amount and the refund conditions.
• A photocopy or scan of your passport plus the entry stamp or e-VOA page, and if asked, a photo of you holding the passport.
• A written rental agreement listing the scooter's plate number, dates and damage charges.
• Photos and video of the scooter before you ride off, including old scratches.

If a rental refuses all of these and still wants the original, find another one. In the main tourist areas there is plenty of choice.

What about a hotel that wants to keep your passport?

Decline politely and offer to have it scanned in front of you. A credit card or cash deposit at check-in is a normal way to secure the bill, and a hotel does not need your passport for that. When you book a hotel voucher on AccessiaPass, keep the booking confirmation next to a copy of your passport on your phone so check-in only needs a scan.

Your passport is held and not returned: what now?

• Ask for it back in writing. Send a WhatsApp message stating the rental dates and that the scooter has been returned, so there is a record.
• Report it to the nearest police station (the SPKT desk at the Polsek or Polres). Ask for a receipt of your report. The police decide whether there is a criminal element, such as embezzlement.
• Inform the immigration office (Ngurah Rai, Denpasar or Singaraja, depending on the area) that your travel document is in someone else's hands, especially if your stay permit is about to expire.
• Contact your embassy or consulate. Some countries, such as Australia, have a consulate-general in Denpasar. They can assist you or issue an emergency travel document if the passport is not returned.

Quick FAQ

• Can I leave my home driving licence as security? It can be agreed, but you also need that licence to ride legally. A cash deposit is safer.
• The rental says "every tourist does it". A habit is not a rule. Show that you are ready to give a copy and a deposit.
• A tour operator wants my passport for a fast boat ticket? They usually need your name and passport number, not the document itself.

One small habit that saves a lot of trips: store a photo of your passport bio page in the cloud and send a copy to a family member at home before you fly.