KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The government is mulling new laws to encourage or mandate the registration of MyDigital ID among Malaysians, minister Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa said in Dewan Rakyat today.

New Straits Times cited the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) saying the voluntary nature of the current system was a major barrier to widespread adoption.

“Encouraging wider adoption of MyDigital ID has been challenging due to its voluntary registration nature. This is one of the key issues that requires further discussion, particularly on strategies to boost citizen participation.”

“The government is currently exploring the option of introducing legislation that could either promote or require Malaysians to register for MyDigital ID,” she said in response to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran).

She said as of the second quarter this year, 2.8 million Malaysians had registered for MyDigital ID, up from 1.8 million in the first quarter.

“The number is expected to continue rising with the expansion of ‘use case’, referring to specific applications or services where MyDigital ID is used as a method of identity verification,” she reportedly said.

These use cases include logging into the MyGOV portal, the MyJPJ app, and SIM card owner verification.

Dr Zaliha said 35 government application systems have integrated MyDigital ID, with 17 more in progress and 21 under discussion.

Seven non-government systems have also been integrated, with two more in progress, totalling 82 systems, nearly double the March figure.

She added that six banks have completed sandbox testing for MyDigital ID under Bank Negara Malaysia’s supervision.

Launched in November last year, MyDigital ID is currently integrated with several government applications, including MySejahtera, the MyGov portal, and the Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS).

MyDigital ID however does not replace the Malaysian identification card or MyKad for identification purposes.