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THE Public Service Department (JPA) has referred 549 cases of scholarship recipients who defaulted on their loan repayments to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), involving outstanding debts amounting to RM81.2 million.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa, told Parliament that legal notices had been issued to all affected borrowers, who failed to make any repayments for over six years.
“For chronic defaulters, legal procedure letters have already been issued as the repayment period has exceeded the statutory limitation of six years,” she said.
“These delinquent cases have now been referred to the AGC for legal action,” she added during the winding-up session for the debate on the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) Series 3/2025 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Of the RM81.2 million total arrears, JPA has so far recovered RM17.5 million, with the remaining RM63.79 million still under legal proceedings.
From January to August this year, JPA managed to collect RM6.9 million in scholarship claim repayments. To strengthen recovery efforts, the department is finalising the appointment of a Debt Collection Agency (Agensi Kutipan Hutang, AKH).
“In addition, defaulters may be blacklisted, and next-of-kin of those with outstanding debts will not be considered for new sponsorships until the arrears are cleared,” Zaliha said.
She noted that this approach has already proven effective, with RM93.68 million collected this year alone from parents of new scholarship applicants who had unresolved debts.
According to LKAN 3/2025, JPA accounted for RM352.5 million or 76.1 per cent of the Prime Minister’s Department’s total outstanding receivables of RM463.21 million as of 2024.
To further boost its recovery mechanism, JPA is working with the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and the National Registration Department (JPN) to update borrower information. - October 8, 2025