Driver status: Loke showing an example of an outdated driving licence during a press conference on the Budi Madani RON96 programme. — Bernama
PUTRAJAYA: Some 150,000 of the 17 million Malaysians eligible for the Budi Madani RON95 (Budi95) subsidy have not updated their 12-digit MyKad number in their driving licences.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who disclosed this, reiterated that to qualify for Budi95, one must be a Malaysian citizen with a valid and active driving licence.
To support the Budi95 scheme, he said the Road Transport Department (JPJ) has provided driving licence data to the Finance Ministry to streamline the process.
“Several categories of people have yet to update their driving licences with the 12-digit MyKad number.
“They include those using old identity card numbers, birth certificate numbers, and police and army identification numbers which have not switched to civilian numbers on driving licences after retirement.
“We urge those in these categories to update their licences with the 12-digit MyKad number because if registered with their old numbers, the system cannot recognise it,” he told a press conference at his ministry yesterday.
To address the problem, Loke said JPJ will open special counters for those who have yet to update their 12-digit MyKad number, with no fee imposed.
“But they must be present to update their thumbprint,” he said.
Loke said once the driving licence is updated with the 12-digit MyKad with no other issues or red flags, the information will be updated weekly in the Budi95 system with the Finance Ministry.
On whether there was an increase in driving licence renewals, he said there was a 10,000 increase daily.
“We have seen an increase in renewals from 17,000 to 27,000 daily since the Finance Ministry’s announcement on the requirement for a valid licence for Budi95,” he revealed.
The minister also spoke about Malaysians with Singapore driving licences and eligible for Budi95, particularly those working in the republic.
“Under the law, you cannot hold two driving licences, so those working in Singapore must have their Singapore licence, but they live in Johor and have another vehicle here.
“The Singapore data is not integrated with us; it is beyond our jurisdiction and involves the Personal Data Protection Act. We need a system to register these Malaysians, but JPJ will require two to three weeks to develop it.
“We do not know how many people are in this category since there are 200,000 to 250,000 daily crossings between Malaysia and Singapore,” he added, though he also emphasised that Malaysians with foreign-registered vehicles are not entitled to RON95.
Loke also said that almost 900,000 foreigners in the country with Malaysian driving licences are no longer able to enjoy the RON95 subsidy with the full rollout of Budi95 yesterday.
He said there are 878,279 non-citizen Malaysian driving licence holders, including 18,710 who have PR status.
“For non-citizens, they have to pay RM2.60 (price without subsidy),” he added.
