Kuala Lumpur, 27 August 2020 – A total of RM495.4 million has been channelled to 9.9 million ePenjana credit receivers nationwide as at August 21 this year, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said.
Deputy Finance Minister II Mohd Shahar Abdullah said the ePenjana applications have been opened since July 31, 2020 until Sept 24, 2020 and credit received must be spent before Sept 30, 2020.
“Regarding data privacy, we don’t need to worry because during application, the terms and conditions remain the same. Only this time, we have an additional condition that applicants must use the MySejahtera app and all data privacy are subjected to Personal Data Protection Act 2010,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in response to a question from Wong Shu Qi (DAP-Kluang) on the number of applicants that had successfully redeemed the RM50 ePenjana credit until June 30, 2020.
Meanwhile, Mohd Shahar said the government has allocated RM110 million to persons with disabilities in implementing social assistance for the vulnerable group under ePenjana, and RM55.71 million has been disbursed; one-off payment of RM2.88 million to single mothers and RM540,000 to home assistance services.
“We admit that we have some issues in our implementation relating to the list of eligible single mothers to receive this one-off payment and currently, the Community Services Department is constructing a data mapping to ensure that those who are really deserving will receive the aid,” he said.
Mohd Shahar was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) on the implementation of social assistance to the vulnerable group.
To a supplementary question from Ahmad Maslan on whether the government is planning to introduce Bantuan Prihatin 2.0, he said: “There are requests for us to implement Bantuan Prihatin Nasional 2.0 but the government also needs to look at the current financial capabilities and if we feel that it has to be done in the future, we will do it,” he added.
ePENJANA is an initiative under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) aimed at encouraging consumer spending, instilling safety practices through contactless payment and assist the public health authorities to facilitate contact tracing for COVID-19 through the MySejahtera application.
The government is providing RM50 ePENJANA credit to be used for purchases through selected e-Wallets service providers, namely Boost, GrabPay and Touch ‘n Go eWallet.
-BERNAMA
