Mar 14 2025, 08:09 AM, updated 9 months ago
By New Straits Times - March 13, 2025 @ 2:09pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians attempting to reclaim unclaimed money are expressing frustration as they face significant hurdles in retrieving their own funds or those belonging to their heirs.
According to Utusan Malaysia, among the primary challenges are stringent requirements, lengthy processes involving numerous documents, and an application website that frequently crashes or remains under maintenance.
One applicant, pensioner Othman Salleh, 82, said that his first application was rejected after over a month and took more than a week to be approved again.
"It is not easy to claim my own money. My application was rejected simply because my bank book was old and handwritten," he said.
"It took me nearly two months before I could finally receive my unclaimed funds."
A survey by the newspaper found that some Malaysians, despite acknowledging that they have unclaimed money, choose not to file a claim due to the complicated and time-consuming process.
Another applicant, Roslee Aman, 59, said he did not find it worthwhile to go through the lengthy claims process.
"I have a small amount of unclaimed money, but when I think about filling out forms, searching for documents, and then queuing at the counter, I feel it's better to just leave it," he said.
Meanwhile, Syed Alwi, 32, said that frequent crashes and maintenance of the application website made it difficult to initiate the claim process.
"The system for claiming your own money should be simple, but every time I try to access the website, it either crashes or is under maintenance," he said.
Zarina Sarji, 49, faced similar issues, saying the application process was both time-consuming and exhausting due to the complex steps and requirements.
"I feel like it has become the norm to expect long waiting times when dealing with government offices, especially for refund claims," she said.
In response, Fauzi Ramli, 54, a trader from Cyberjaya, hopes the government will open more application counters across districts and improve the system to be more user-friendly.
"RM12.7 billion is a huge amount, and if it can be returned to its rightful owners, it would certainly benefit the people," he said.
Some Malaysians have suggested that the government impose a time limit for claiming the funds whereby if unclaimed within that period, the money can be used to improve public facilities and contribute to national development.
Previously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that RM12.7 billion in unclaimed money remained uncollected as of Jan 31.
On March 5, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said that the Accountant General's Department had launched various initiatives to encourage Malaysians to claim their funds.
"As of last year, a total of 158 booths and awareness programmes were organised nationwide to inform the public about the funds and the claim process," he said in the Dewan Rakyat.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2025/03/...unclaimed-funds
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