The Road Transport Department (RTD) and the Transport Ministry have been slapped with a letter of demand for RM1.3 million over alleged copyright infringement.

The legal letter sighted by Malaysiakini concerns the registration numbers Madani 1 to Madani 9999.

According to claimant Hasan Azhari Hashim, who is Ilham Madani Sdn Bhd programme director, the duo have seven days to pay the compensation from the date of receiving the letter.

If they fail to pay, his legal team from the law firm Raj & Sach will file a lawsuit to seek compensation.

When contacted, Hasan’s counsel Rajesh Nagarajan confirmed the legal letter was served on RTD and the ministry yesterday.

According to Hasan, who claims to be the registered copyright holder over the plate numbers, he wrote to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Feb 27 last year proposing that he and the government agency work together to sell the special plate numbers “Madani 1” to “Madani 9999”.

The claimant alleged that the proposal fell through after the government did not agree with it in a series of letters between late last year and early this year.

Hasan alleged however that he found out last month via an RTD notice over the issuance of special registration plates with minimum bids of RM100.

He claimed this amounted to a breach of his copyright over the licence plate numbers.

Malaysiakini has contacted the government’s legal representative from the Attorney-General’s Chambers for a response.

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