Why charges are imposed on dormant cards

WE refer to the letter “Don’t impose activation charges on card not used within a year” (NST, April 12).

On behalf of Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd, we would like to thank the reader for highlighting this issue. We would also like to apologise for the inconvenience experienced by the customer.

A Touch ‘n Go card will become dormant after being inactive for 12 consecutive months. A dormant card requires exceptional handling and an administrative fee of RM5.30 is charged in accordance with the terms and conditions as stated in the cardholders’ agreement.

The dormant cards carry loads that prevent the Touch ‘n Go system from operating optimally, thus affecting our service level to other active users. The cost of system maintenance and administration also grows exponentially with the increasing number of dormant or inactive cards.

To prevent deactivation, cardholders are advised to use or reload their cards at least once a year. Users could also transfer the card to another user by notifying our Touch ‘n Go Careline.

On another note, the prepaid value reloaded into a Touch ‘n Go card does not expire. Customers can request to terminate the dormant card and the balance will be refunded — either credited into the customer’s bank account or via cheque. This requires verification to ensure the balance is refunded to the rightful owner of the card.

All monies reloaded into the Touch ‘n Go card are deposited with a trustee, and belong to the cardholder. All payments to service providers (that is, toll, rail, parking operators and retail