BR1M 3.0: Over 70% of new eligible recipients did not register - Ahmad Maslan

Depty Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said over 70 per cent of the 900,000 new eligible recipients of the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M 3.0) for 2014 had still not registered for the aid.

"I appeal to them to register immediately and to update their information before this Jan 31 to also facilitate their receiving the takaful i-BR1M contribution for insurance coverage," he said.

According to him, the government was currently fine-tuning the aspect of insurance coverage with Bank Negara Malaysia and a number of insurance companies which was to be finalised soon.

"We need the eligible applicants to register for BR1M 3.0 fast so that the government won't need to extend the registration period.

"They should learn from BR1M 1.0 and BR1M 2.0, and this is the third time the aid will be distributed," he told a news conference after visiting the BR1M counter at the Inland Revenue Board office in Cyberjaya, Friday.

He said if the recipients delayed the registration process, they might not be able to get the i-BR1M insurance coverage as the protection period was from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2014.

Ahmad said the government expected 7.9 million Malaysians to be eligible to receive BR1M 3.0 this year from an allocation of RM4.5 billion compared to RM3 billion for BR1M 2.0.

"Of the 7.9 million, 6.8 million are already recipients of the aid, 900,000 are new recipients while 200,000 are in the 'buffer' group or new applicants who have just reached the age of 21 and those with a monthly income of RM4,000 and below this year."

However, he added that only 4.4 million of the 6.8 million current recipients had updated their bank account particulars to facilitate distribution of the aid while 2.4 million had not done so.

Ahmad said distribution of the BR1M 3.0 would be made from February.

Under the 2014 Budget announced by the prime minister last October, households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below would each receive RM650 in BR1M and takaful i-BR1M contribution of RM50.

Those with a monthly income of between RM3,001 and RM4,000 will receive RM450 and another RM50 in takaful contribution, while unmarried individuals aged 21 and above and earning a monthly income of not more than RM2,000 are eligible to receive RM300 in aid.