The MyKasih Foundation has ramped up its system capacity by 60% to handle the surge in transactions for the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) one-off aid programme, following complaints of slow processing on its first day of disbursement. In a statement, the foundation said its technical team is closely monitoring performance and will continue to improve system stability.
Despite the improvements, slow processing reportedly persisted in several states, including Selangor, Perak, Sabah and Melaka. MyKasih attributed this to unusually high foot traffic during the long weekend. To ease issues on the ground, staff have been stationed at selected hypermarkets to provide support for both shoppers and traders. The public has been advised to make purchases during off-peak hours, particularly weekday mornings, to avoid congestion.
Some recipients, however, reported being forced to pay with their own cash when transactions failed to go through at participating outlets. The glitches were linked to the heavy demand on MyKasih terminals, with over 7,300 registered retail outlets currently enabled for the programme.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and MyKasih had earlier apologised for the technical issues, explaining that the first day of disbursement saw unusually high transaction volumes that strained the system. Both parties assured recipients that corrective steps are being taken to restore smooth operations.
To recap, the one-off RM100 SARA credit, credited directly into recipients’ MyKad, is expected to benefit around 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above at a total cost of RM2 billion. The credit is valid until 31 December 2025 and forms part of the government’s broader targeted aid framework, which also includes SARA and Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) assistance, with total allocations reaching up to RM15 billion this year.
(Source: Bernama [1] [2] / Malay Mail)
