In Reply to: Register with the Police posted by maz on Wednesday, 19. December 2012 at 08:31 Bali Time:
and decide for yourself.
In my experience new arrivals should be registered with the local police.
It seems that there may be some difference in the "fee" payable, but I think this is just typical of Indonesian officials.
As it's a one off payment, and to the tune of $4 I would think it advisable to just pay and be done with it.
I don't think that it can be argued that no such requirement (registration) exists.
When you say "they want their passports" it goes without saying that sighting of passports will be required, but not the handing over of the passport.
Photocopies are useful for this.