Bantuan Prihatin Nasional Payment Is Brought Forward, Starts On 6 April 2020

Alex Cheong Pui Yin

6th April 2020 - 3 min read

The disbursement of the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) financial aid has been brought forward to today, 6 April 2020, instead of the originally intended end of April 2020. It marks the first phase of the payouts, which will be carried out in two parts – once in April, and once in May 2020.

The announcement also clarified that payments disbursed during this first phase will be done in two batches. The first batch, which is performed between 6 April to 12 April 2020, will cover B40 households and single individuals with monthly income of less than RM4,000 and RM2,000, respectively. During this round of payment, eligible B40 households will first receive RM1,000 out of the RM1,600 promised to them, with the remaining amount to be paid during the second phase in May 2020. Eligible B40 individuals, on the other hand, will get RM500 out of RM800 for now.

From 13 April to 15 April, on the other hand, payments will be made to M40 households earning between RM4,001 to RM8,000, as well as single individuals earning between RM2,001 to RM4,000 per month. The M40 households, which are promised RM1,000 in total, will receive RM500 this round, whereas single individuals will receive RM250 out of their full RM500 aid. The remaining amount will also be paid in May 2020.

These payments will be given to all eligible recipients through their bank accounts registered in the Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) or the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) database. Additionally, BPN recipients who do not possess bank accounts will receive their payments in person once the movement control order (MCO) period is over.

“The first phase of payments, totaling RM5.63 billion, will be made in stages to 8.3 million recipients under the four categories,” said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. In total, RM9.24 billion has been allocated for the whole BPN assistance.

Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul attributed this expedited payout to the cooperation between all parties involved, particularly LHDN and Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN). He also warned the public of scammers who may take advantage of the current situation, telling them to rely only on official sources and to be careful when sharing their details.

(Image: Malay Mail)

The one-off BPN financial aid was announced as part of the Perikatan Nasional’s Prihatin Economic Stimulus Package, and is intended to help Malaysians affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and MCO.

In general, you won’t have to make any applications for the BPN aid if you are already a recipient of the BSH financial assistance or a registered taxpayer with LHDN. If you’re not registered with either, however, you have until 30 April 2020 to make a new application or online appeals on the official LHDN website. You will receive your payment in one go during the month of May upon approval.

LHDN has also announced that bankrupt or blacklisted individuals will be able to make applications for the BPN aid starting from today.

(Source: New Straits Times, The Star)

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Alex Cheong Pui Yin

Previously covered recruitment-related stories and had a short stint as a copywriter for the property industry. She subsequently developed an interest in investment and robo-advisors.

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