Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has officially launched the Jaringan Prihatin Programme today, aimed at bridging the digital gap among the B40 income group. It sees a total budget allocation of RM3.5 billion – shared between the government and local telcos – and is expected to benefit approximately 8.5 million people from the targeted group.

First announced during the tabling of Budget 2021, the Jaringan Prihatin Programme originally enabled B40 individuals to receive a financial aid of RM180 for the purchase of new phones or telco credit and broadband internet plans. It was also initially slated to take place starting from March 2021. However, the government eventually announced some revisions to the programme during the reveal of the subsequent PEMERKASA stimulus package. It increased the financial aid from RM180 to RM300 for households with school-going children, and delayed the launch of the programme from March 2021 to May 2021.

Here are some things to know about the Jaringan Prihatin Programme!

Jaringan Prihatin Programme: The Essentials

The Jaringan Prihatin Programme is available for those who are eligible for the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) financial aid. It allows them to opt for either of two subsidy packages: a device subsidy or a monthly data plan subsidy. Here’s a quick summary of what’s on offer:

BPR recipients	Subsidy packages
Single or married without children under the age of 18	Device package offering RM180 subsidy for the purchase of mobile devices/phones (to be paid in full) Monthly rebate of RM15 for your data plan needs for 12 months
Single parent, or married with children under the age of 18	Device package offering RM300 subsidy for the purchase of mobile devices/phones (to be paid in full) Monthly rebate of RM15 for your data plan needs for 12 months

On top of that, the recipients will also be able to claim 2GB of free data on a daily basis, which has a validity of one hour once redeemed.

Eligible individuals can already begin registering for the Jaringan Prihatin programme with their respective telco companies, with the closing date for registrations set on 31 July 2021. The programme itself will run from today until 31 July 2022. You can check if you are eligible to apply via the BPR website.

Jaringan Prihatin Programme: Telco Packages

According to the government, as many as 12 telecommunication companies have stepped up to assist the B40 group via the Jaringan Prihatin Programme, including Maxis, Digi, Celcom, YES, and U Mobile. Each telco will have a different redemption process, which you’ll have to find out through your respective service provider. Here are several:

Maxis

Maxis has packaged the Jaringan Prihatin Programme benefits according to the following bundles for its Hotlink and Maxis customers:

To redeem the credit or bill subsidy offers, you will need to first download either the Hotlink or Maxis self-care app and register yourself with the Jaringan Prihatin Programme. Once done, go ahead and claim your subsidy through the app.

Meanwhile, if you’re opting for the device subsidy, you’ll need to register your interest on the website here. Depending on whether you fall under Category 1 or Category 2, you’ll be offered different phones that you can purchase, each of which comes with a 12-month or 24-month contract tied to Hotlink’s Postpaid 60 plan.

Digi

Digi’s Jaringan Prihatin packages also cater to its prepaid and postpaid customers, offering both credit and device subsidies to eligible recipients. Note, however, that it does not provide the device subsidy for households without children (worth RM180). The Jaringan Prihatin packages offered by Digi are as follows:

	Credit subsidy package	Device subsidy package
Prepaid customers	– Digi Prepaid NEXT 35 (RM15 rebate x 12 months) – Free 2GB 1 hour everyday	– Prihatin 35 Prepaid Bundle – Free 2GB 1 hour everyday
Postpaid customers	– Digi Postpaid 60 (RM15 rebate x 12 months) – Free 2GB 1 hour everyday	– Prihatin 40 Postpaid Bundle – Free 2GB 1 hour everyday

You can claim these offers through Digi’s website or mobile app. Note that for the Prihatin 35 Prepaid Bundle (device subsidy package), you will need to provide an upfront payment of three months, and only one phone is on offer: Samsung Galaxy A02. Meanwhile, the Prihatin 40 Postpaid Bundle (device subsidy package) offers more choices in terms of the phones that you can choose from, but there will be a 12-month contract.

Celcom

Celcom has prepared a total of five credit subsidy packages under the Jaringan Prihatin Programme for its prepaid customers, offering varying amounts of mobile data and perks. These include free data for YouTube streaming (between 1pm to 7am) and free data for Walla. The prepaid packages on offer are as shown here:

Meanwhile, postpaid customers can choose between the credit subsidy or device subsidy. Eligible households with children will be allowed to redeem either a rebate of RM300 for the purchase of a new phone or a monthly rebate of RM25 over 12 months with a new phone included. As for individuals without children, they will get a rebate of RM180 to purchase a new phone, or a monthly rebate of RM15 over 12 months – but without a new phone included.

But that’s not all; on top of these offers, Celcom is also providing an additional deal where you can get an extra RM60 rebate if you subscribe to its XP Lite plans (Pas M or L).

You can redeem Celcom’s offers through a variety of channels, including the Celcom Life app, Bluecube, Celcom online shop, Celcom certified partners, and Celcom account managers.

YES

YES has come up with two plans for the Jaringan Prihatin Programme, namely the YES PRIHATIN Learn-From-Home Families plan and the YES PRIHATIN Learn-From-Home Individuals plan. Both plans provide subscribers with a free smartphone, free data, and free access to YTL Foundation’s Learn-From-Home content for a year. On top of that, you’ll also receive a bonus RM50 Shopee voucher to shop for essentials. Here are more details of both plans:

YES PRIHATIN Learn-From-Home Families	YES PRIHATIN Learn-From-Home Individuals
– Free YES smartphone – Free 30GB data per month for one year – Free access to learning content on FrogAsia mobile app for a year – RM50 Shopee voucher	– Free YES smartphone – Free 15GB data per month for one year – Free access to learning content on FrogAsia mobile app for a year – RM50 Shopee voucher

You can redeem these offers on the YES website or the MyYes mobile app.

U Mobile

Eligible U Mobile’s prepaid and postpaid customers can both redeem a credit subsidy of RM15 per month (for 12 months), provided they are subscribed to prepaid plans priced at RM30 and above or postpaid plans priced at RM50 and above.

Alternatively, you can also go for the device subsidy to purchase a new phone with either an RM180 or RM300 rebate (depending on your eligibility criteria). If you’re a prepaid customer, you’ll have to be subscribed to the Giler Unlimited Prepaid GX38 plan to tap into this subsidy, whereas postpaid customers must sign up for the Giler Unlimited Postpaid GX50 or GX68 plans. Do note that although upfront payments will be collected during the registration of your phone plan, it will subsequently be rebated via monthly discounts over a period of 10 or 12 months, depending on your plan.

To redeem any of these offers, you can head on over to U Mobile’s website to register. You can also do so via the telco’s Self-Care page or the MyUMobile mobile app.

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Aside from these five telcos, other service providers that are also involved in the Jaringan Prihatin Programme include Mcalls, redONE, speakOUT, Tune Talk, unifi Mobile, XOX Mobile, and Yoodo. If you’re subscribed to any of these other telcos, make sure to check in with them on how you should go about registering yourself for the programme or redeeming the available offers. Most will also have FAQs to answer any other questions that you have.

• TAGS:
• Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat
• Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR)
• BPR
• Budget 2021
• Celcom
• Digi
• Economic Stimulus Package
• Longform
• Maxis
• PEMERKASA
• Program Jaringan Prihatin
• Stimulus Package
• U Mobile
• Yes