Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran said the decision was made on Oct 22, 2025, after Dapat Vista Malaysia Sdn Bhd had proposed three options to resolve issues surrounding the system operated by itself.
He said the options were for the government to purchase the e-Jamin system directly from Dapat Vista, subscribe to its services and products, or retain the company to maintain and operate the system before eventually handing it over to the government.
"The final decision by the MoF on Oct 22, 2025 was to reject all three commercial proposals.
"MoF decided to maintain the existing system at no cost to the government through an official agreement, together with a trustee bank structure," he said when winding up the debate on the Auditor General's Report in the Dewan Rakyat.
The three proposals included a model under which Dapat Vista would maintain and operate the system for five years before handing it over to the government, at an estimated overall cost of RM80 million.
Kulasegaran said the government recognised concerns over the absence of a formal agreement governing the system, which has been in operation since 2020.
He said e-Jamin was initially introduced as a "stop-gap measure", but had continued to operate for a prolonged period because of the difficulties that arose when the system was previously stopped.
"When the company suddenly ceased operations, there was total chaos among lawyers throughout the country, which created difficulties for us to continue because the old system was very troublesome and required this system to continue," he said.
He said this, however, was not a justification for the absence of a formal contract.
"There is no excuse for not signing a contract so that the terms are more open, with accountability and transparency," he said.
Kulasegaran said the matter was being scrutinised by the relevant departments and was expected to be brought to the cabinet soon for its consideration and views.
He said the government also acknowledged the need to ensure that the funds handled through the system were properly protected.
"The more important thing is that I agree that we need to expedite the agreement so that the terms can be known by the people and there is accountability, and all parties can know about the matter," he said.
The e-Jamin system enables bail payments to be made electronically, with the government saying it reduces the time needed to complete bail payments to less than 30 minutes compared with about five hours under the previous physical payment process.
Kulasegaran said 81,667 bail cases were recorded through the system in 2025, involving RM255.198 million in bail money.
He added that based on the audit information available, there had been no misappropriation of the funds.
The PAC had previously raised concerns over the management of bail money under e-Jamin, including the absence of a formal government contract and the investment of part of the funds by Dapat Vista. - NST
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