No hike in fee for lost MyKad
KUALA LUMPUR: There are no plans to increase the fee for a lost MyKad, despite a revision on the charges for lost passports imposed by the Immigration Department.
National Registration Department (NRD) deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Mohd Zahari Hassan said unlike passports, that are usually applied for by those who can afford to travel overseas, the MyKad is a basic compulsory document.
He said increasing the fee to process a lost MyKad would not address the issue, as awareness is a more important factor.
“Before proposing an increase in the fees, we would consider those who can’t afford (to pay the fines), who sometimes lose their cards unintentionally, or get robbed and such,” he said yesterday.
Under the current system, which was last revised in October 2015, a citizen who loses his or her MyKad for the first time will have to pay RM100 in processing fees, RM300 for the second time, and RM1,000 for the third and subsequent times.
Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said last week they plan to increase the fine for a lost passport to RM200 for the first time, RM500 (second time) and RM1,000 for the third and subsequent times.
Mohd Zahari also pointed out that there have been a downward trend in the number of lost MyKad over the years, with 169,381 lost as of May 31, compared to 422,029 in 2016, 426,992 in 2015, 430,566 in 2014 and 447,679 in 2013.
He said the two main reasons for lost cards were either negligence or being victims of crime.
Mohd Zahari was speaking after launching the Federal Territories MyKad Distributed Printing Project (DPP) Hub at the Seputeh NRD branch.
With the DPP Hub, NRD offices which lack a MyKad printing machine will be able to have MyKad printed at these hubs, instead of having them printed at the NRD headquarters in Putrajaya.
This would lower delivery expenses as well as shorten delivery time to five working days (from ten) for offices in the peninsula, and seven days (from 30) for offices in Sabah and Sarawak.
Kuala Lumpur is now the sixth state in the country to have its own DPP Hub, with more expected to be opened in other states soon.