e-Tunai Rakyat launch sees RM10m spent on first day
KUALA LUMPUR: People have spent more than RM10 million on the first day of the e-Tunai Rakyat’s launch yesterday despite earlier grouses about the initiative.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the three service providers recorded about 380,000 transactions, of which 310,000 were approved up to 10pm on Wednesday.
“In just one day, more than RM10 million has been spent,” Lim said during a campaign for the initiative at the SS2 market in Petaling Jaya yesterday.
Earlier, Lim said issues regarding hanging applications related to one of the service providers had been resolved.
He said it was due to the “explosive” number of applicants, shooting down claims by some people that there was poor uptake for the initiative.
Lim said the government’s RM30 incentive for every qualified individual, aimed at stimulating spending through e-wallets provided by Grab, Boost and Touch ‘n Go, would pump in some RM1 billion into the economy.
The government had allocated RM450 million for the initiative under the 2020 Budget.
E-wallet service providers were also giving out incentives to those who registered with them.
Lim said the government would top up public spending over and above RM450 million allocated for the cashless initiative to the service providers if required.
On concerns that the initiative could lead to privacy and data breaches, Lim said the personal details of applicants would not be shared with third parties as they were protected under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012.
“We understand people are worried that their consumption pattern will be misused by a third party, but we are not running a business. So we will not allow any organisation to profit from that,” he said, adding that the government was not a commercial organisation.
The initiative facilitated by sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd included a three-step vetting process.
The National Registration Department and Inland Revenue Board would determine whether an applicant had signed up on another service provider.
Lim, who promoted the initiative to petty traders at the market yesterday, said the campaign would be expanded to other parts of the country.
The initiative will benefit 15 million Malaysians aged 18 and above with an annual income of less than RM100,000.