PUTRAJAYA (March 18): After three months of opening the Central Database Hub (Padu) for the public to update their data, the looming March 31 deadline will remain unchanged, according to Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli, to make way for the government’s fiscal reform plans. 

When Padu's update window closes, the government will have sufficient data to use the database as a guide for planning policy, Rafizi said during a press conference on Monday. 

“This is in line with the mandate given to Padu to ensure data readiness for coming programmes, first and foremost being the RON95 targeted subsidy that was discussed and will be decided,” he said.

“This will of course be implemented when the government has decided on the date,” he added. It was previously reported that the government plans to roll out the RON95 petrol subsidy in the second half of 2024.

As at March 17, only 5.43 million individuals — or 18.05% of the 30.08 million record on citizens and permanent residents in the Padu system based on administrative data — have registered to the database’s portal to update their data. 

Regardless of the registration figures, Rafizi assured that Padu has sufficient data for the government to move to its next step — determining eligibility for government aid — which will be guided based on the database’s existing data.

Rafizi explained that Padu’s data comprises three categories, namely: existing administrative data from over 300 government and non-government databases; Department of Statistics Malaysia's (DOSM) household survey data; and data updates inputted by the public.  

“This means that on March 31, if you do not register and update your data in Padu, the government will use the existing data obtained and we will believe that data is sufficient," he said.  

However, Rafizi reiterated that this opportunity to update Padu's data should be utilised to ensure that it is up-to-date so the government can minimise exclusion risks — households that would qualify for aid but do not due to outdated or inaccurate data. 

Earlier Rafizi said the government identified 4,752 localities at risk of being excluded from future government aid due to lacking Padu registration and updates. 

“When we map the government data so far, including the list of STR [Rahmah Cash Aid] recipients and prior [aid programmes], these 4,752 localities, which have residents in the B40 (Bottom 40% income group) and lower half M40 (altogether B60) category, are identified because it shows that there is a risk of exclusion.

“If you look at the list of apartments, for those of us in [the] Klang Valley, in KL [Kuala Lumpur], we know that some of these apartments have low-income groups, so there should be recipients of government aid in these apartments but government data so far shows that there are none,” he said.  

“This means that even with existing data, past [social aid] registration, screening, there is still an exclusion risk,” he stressed.

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Over 4,700 localities at risk of aid exclusion without central database registration — Rafizi