The police have no reason not to recognise the government multi-purpose smartcard (GMPC), also known as MyKad, which was introduced several months back, National Registration Department deputy director Burniah Jamari said today.

She was referring to a case in which the police issued a summons to Tan Swee Choon, a technician, for failing to carry his driving licence despite him producing his four-month old MyKad that incorporates his identity card and driving licence details.

Burniah, who sounded indignant over the police action during in a telephone interview with malaysiakini , said Tan, who was summoned on Feb 4, had every right to contest it. Tan publicised his plight in the media yesterday.

If he was summoned by the police even though he was carrying a valid MyKad with his incorporated driving licence, he has every right to bring a suit against the police for being wrongfully penalised, Burniah said.

She said the NRD had met with the relevant government agencies on the introduction of the new multi-purpose smartcard which has a chip to hold details of the cardholders identity card, passport and driving licence. The Malaysian government has plans to eventually use the card as a cash card and access to medical records.

Clear instructions given

We have met not only with the police, but also with the Immigration Department and the Road Transport Department, giving them clear instructions to accept the validity of the MyKad, said Burniah.

They (the police) therefore have no right to reject the validity of the card. But it could be that some in the force may still be ignorant of the implementation, she added.

When asked by malaysiakini , Burniah said that it was not possible that the shortage of MyKad readers led to the issuing of Tans summons. More than 10,000 readers, which are needed to process information in the chip, have been distributed to the various departments involved, she said.

When contacted, an official at the Road Transport Department, who did not wished to be identified, said there has yet to be a department-wide recognition for the validity of the MyKad as a driving licence.

The RTD had on Oct 16 last year issued a summons to a motorcyclist for not carrying his driving licence even though he had his MyKad with him.