Topic
#government
4 articles
Your Saman Halves Itself for 15 Days, Then Stops: The Rule Nobody Explained When Campaign Discounts Ended — and the RM500 Ceiling Coming in 2029
Malaysia stopped running seasonal saman discount campaigns on 1 January 2026. In their place, JPJ and PDRM adopted one standardised nationwide schedule built on a phrase the Transport Minister used at Parliament: "the less you delay, the less you pay". Pay within 15 days and the compound is cut by half. Pay between day 16 and day 30 and it is cut by a third. From day 31 to day 60 you pay the full rate. Past day 61 the file goes to court and the vehicle owner is blacklisted. Six months later, Parliament passed the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2026 — the Dewan Rakyat on 24 June 2026, the Dewan Negara on 21 July — raising the maximum compound from RM300 to RM500, raising minimum court fines from RM300 to RM500 as a separate change nobody separates, creating a standalone offence for street racing, and tripling the jail exposure for driving while your licence is suspended. None of that is law yet: the Act has still not appeared in the Attorney General's Chambers' register. Here is what changed, what it costs, what is actually in force this week, and the dates that decide which version applies to you.
BUDI95 Is Still 200 Litres: What the Cap Is Worth This Week, and Exactly What Happens at Litre 201
The BUDI95 quota was cut from 300 litres a month to 200 on 1 April 2026 and, as of this week, it is still 200. That number is easy to argue about and hard to feel, so here is what it is actually worth: with unsubsidised RON95 at RM3.77 a litre for 20 to 26 August 2026 and BUDI95 fixed at RM1.99, the government is paying RM1.78 for every litre you buy on your MyKad — RM356 a month if you use the whole quota. The Finance Ministry's own FAQ, updated 30 June 2026, says nearly 90 per cent of users never get close: average consumption is about 100 litres a month. It also answers the questions nobody covers — that the quota is shared between RON95 and diesel, that unused litres expire on the 1st, that there is a RM250 ceiling per transaction, that e-hailing drivers can reach 800 litres, and that at litre 201 nothing dramatic happens at all: the pump simply charges you the unsubsidised price. Here is how the whole thing works, and where the argument over restoring 300 litres currently stands.
Nobody Has the New MyKad Yet — Printing Is Paused Until 31 August, the Card Drops Touch 'n Go, and Losing Yours Twice Still Costs RM310
Here is the part almost every write-up got wrong: as of 26 August 2026, nobody in Malaysia has been issued the new-generation MyKad. What began on 1 June was a supply contract, not a card. JPN said the roll-out starts only after an official launch by the Prime Minister, which has still not been announced, and on 8 June the Home Minister said plainly that JPN would keep issuing from existing stock until it ran out — enough for "another two to three months". Those two to three months are up, which is exactly why MyKad printing nationwide is disrupted from 26 to 31 August 2026 while JPN switches over, with the department advising anyone without an urgent need to postpone. The new card also quietly drops a feature Malaysians have used for two decades: it will not work as a Touch 'n Go card. What has not changed is the money — RM10 to process, and RM110, RM310 or RM1,010 if you lose yours. Here is the corrected timeline, the fee tables re-read from jpn.gov.my this week, and what to do if you actually need a card right now.
Renewing Your Malaysian Passport in 2026: The Official Fees, Who Can Actually Use MyOnline Pasport, and Why the Counter Is Faster
The Immigration Department's own rate table puts an adult Malaysian passport at RM200 for five years and RM350 for ten — but children under 12 pay RM100, OKU cardholders pay nothing at all, and losing the book costs RM400 the first time and RM1,200 by the third. The bigger surprise is timing: the department's Client Charter promises a passport in one hour at the counter, against one working day online. Here is what the official pages actually say, including the photo rule that gets applications rejected with no refund.