Audit: Immigration loses RM81.69mil in unclaimed penalties

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Weaknesses in terms of monitoring and agreements that are not very clear have resulted in losses for the Immigration Department amounting to RM81.69mil due to penalties not imposed on a company that handled the online collection of Temporary Employment Visit Pass (TEVP) revenue.

According to the the Auditor-General's Report 2020, published on Thursday (Oct 28), it was found that the Immigration Department had failed to impose penalties for late delivery of TEVP stickers amounting to RM73.89mil as well as delayed remittance penalties and penalties for printing the stickers wrongly, amounting to RM0.49mil and RM7.31mil, respectively.

"The audit also found that the TEVP service charge claim by the service company amounting to RM25.94mil has not been paid due to the Home Ministry’s delay in finalising the additional agreement.

"The audit was conducted at the Foreign Workers Division and the Finance Division at the Immigration Department headquarters for the financial year 2020,” the report said.

It also said that the audit recommended the Immigration Department make improvements and take appropriate action to ensure that the terms and clauses of the agreement are complied with and subsequently enforced to safeguard the interests of the government.

"Any exemption must obtain written approval from the authorising party and the Immigration Department must establish a periodic monitoring mechanism for the services provided by the said company," it said.

The report also recommended that monitoring must be done especially in relation to TEVP stickers that are damaged, delivered late and unused to ensure that they are handed over to users within the stipulated time and not misused.

Apart from that, the report also recommended that the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department to ensure that additional agreements are finalised as soon as possible to safeguard the interests of the government and avoid payment problems to the companies involved.

"The period of the TEVP renewal online service agreement between the Home Ministry and the service company is from May 2015 to May 2020. The Home Ministry has submitted an application for extension of the agreement to the Finance Ministry on May 20, 2020.

"The Finance Ministry had, on June 12, 2020, approved the application for a period of three years from May 23, 2020 to May 22, 2023. However, the audit found that the additional agreement has not been finalised,” the report said. - Bernama