This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 12, 2026 - October 18, 2026
Two startling pieces of news surfaced last week about private companies that collect money on behalf of the government.
First was Minister of Transport Anthony Loke’s revelation that the reason the government suspended Zetrix AI Bhd (KL:ZETRIX) and its subsidiary MyEG Sdn Bhd from providing online services to the Road Transport Department (JPJ) was because it had failed to pay some RM314 million it had collected on behalf of the JPJ.
The arrears were for the period of May to end-September this year.
What was especially shocking was that Zetrix AI was contractually obliged to transfer the money it collected from those who renewed their driving licences and road tax one working day after the transaction (T+1).
In short, Zetrix AI — already grabbing the headlines in recent weeks for all the wrong reasons, including its stock price meltdown — has been in breach of its obligations for five months. Loke said the 35 notices sent to Zetrix AI were ignored and the company had even stopped its bank from processing a RM271 million post-dated cheque that it had issued to the JPJ.
This blatant act by Zetrix AI must be the result of a cash flow problem. The company has long been seen as having powerful political connections, especially during the rule of the Barisan Nasional government.
Its latest three-year contract began in May 2023, meaning it was renewed under the Pakatan Harapan-led government, likely because people had become accustomed to using its platform, even though the same services were also available through other channels, including the JPJ’s own digital platform.
The second piece of startling news was that Dapat Vista Sdn Bhd, the company that operates the eJamin system for online payment of court bail, has been doing so for five years without a proper contract from the government.
In revealing this, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament also disclosed that of the RM193.71 million in bail deposits held as at Dec 31, 2024, Dapat Vista was found to have invested RM130.8 million under the company’s name, generating annual interest of between RM4 million and RM5 million for itself. The PAC said that this was done without government approval.
Dapat Vista is 80%-owned by Television Airtime Services Sdn Bhd, a 51%-owned subsidiary of Pertama Digital Bhd (KL:PERTAMA). The remaining 20% is held by technology outfit HeiTech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU).
Responding to the PAC findings, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department M Kulasegaran said the government would try to expedite the signing of an agreement.
He added that there had previously been three options put forward: for the government to purchase the eJamin system directly from Dapat Vista, subscribe to the system’s services and products, or pay the maintenance and operating costs before the system is eventually handed over to the government.
However, he said the Ministry of Finance, on Oct 22, 2025, rejected all three commercial proposals and decided to retain the existing system at no cost to the government through a formal agreement, along with a trustee bank structure.
He said the eJamin system enables court bail payments to be made online and completed within less than half an hour, compared with about five hours under the previous physical payment method.
As with MyEG’s online JPJ services, there is no denying that eJamin is very convenient for the public. But that is not the point of contention. The issue is how these two politically well-connected companies blatantly failed to fulfil their obligations when handling funds on behalf of the government.
Suspending their services is not enough. Stronger action should be taken.
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