KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 18): Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, has confirmed that MyEG Services Bhd has fully shut down its foreign worker permit renewal services portal on Sept 15 (Friday), amid the uncertainties surrounding the extension of the e-service provider's contract by the government.

Any employer whose applications are "stranded" on the MyEG online portal will have to visit the Immigration department along with MyEG representatives, Shamsul (BN-Lenggong) told the Dewan Rakyat.

He also mentioned that efforts to enhance the methodology for foreign worker permit renewal services online are still under consideration by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"Any application that is stuck at MyEG, employers can come with MyEG to the Immigration Department to resolve the related issues," Shamsul said.

The deputy minister however did not elaborate on the status of MyEG’s contract, and the reason why the services portal by MyEG remained open to access in the last few months.

MyEG’s three-year concession for immigration-related services was scheduled to end on May 22 this year, following an extension from May 2020.

In July, MyEG said it had received a notification letter dated July 4 from the Ministry of Home Affairs to confirm that the Ministry of Finance has agreed to an extension for the concession.

At the time, MyEG said the terms of the extension “will be finalised pursuant to further discussion with the government in due course”. An agreement to formalise the extension “will be signed at a later stage”, it said then.

Shamsul was responding to a question posed by Kota Melaka Member of Parliament Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-DAP), who inquired about the rationale behind the Immigration department's engagement with a third party, especially when other authorities possess the capability to develop their own systems.

MyEG came under scrutiny last week after Khoo alleged that the company continued to accept payments for its permit renewal services from employers, despite the government suspending its services as early as February.

Khoo claimed that MyEG unlawfully collected fees for foreign worker permit renewals and called for the immediate return of funds to the misled employers of foreign workers.

When employers asked for refunds due to delays, MyEG asked for proof that the customers had paid to and renewed their permits with the Immigration Department, Khoo said.

In return, MyEG has come out to say that there was no misrepresentation regarding the services offered on its online platform. It emphasised that it is company policy to refund its customers upon request, should its services be unsuccessfully rendered.

Shares of MyEG closed up three sen or 3.85% at 81 sen on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM6.06 billion.

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