Recipients of the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) aid are advised not to rush to redeem their RM100 assistance, as the redemption period extends until 31 December 2025.
Datuk Wira Dr. Ameer Ali Mydin, advisor to the Bumiputera Retailers Association (BRO) and Managing Director of Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad, said there is ample time to redeem the aid, and priority should be given to the B40 group.
“We have four months to redeem this aid, so let’s allow those in genuine need from the B40 group to purchase essentials first,” he said. “The issue stems from the high number of users and system limitations in handling all 22 million recipients simultaneously. The government has provided a long redemption period, so we hope everyone can be patient and avoid peak hours. You can also try redeeming early in the morning or late at night. Operators like Microsoft and Geofreasy are working hard to resolve the issues.”
Previously, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced that the system experienced sudden transaction surges due to overwhelming response from SARA recipients. This caused payment terminal networks under MyKasih to experience significant performance drops at several locations.
The ministry apologized for any inconvenience and assured that monitoring will continue to ensure smooth implementation of the initiative.
Dr. Ameer added that system disruptions began on 31 August, the first day of implementation, when delays were observed after 10 a.m.
“The situation worsened on the second day due to a surge of users redeeming aid simultaneously. On the first day, the system slowed after 10 a.m., but the second day was more severe because so many people tried to redeem at the same time. System operators have issued official statements and are implementing recovery measures. One of the steps includes reducing the number of terminals per branch to ease system load,” he explained.
