Deputy minister: New QR code-enabled MyKad could replace eCOSS app for subsidised cooking oil scheme

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Malaysia is planning to use its new QR code-enabled MyKad to facilitate purchases of subsidised cooking oil packets, in a move that could eventually replace the need for consumers to use the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme System (eCOSS) application.

According to New Straits Times (NST), Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Fuziah Salleh said the proposal is being developed in collaboration with the National Registration Department (NRD) and retailers.

“The chip in the new identity card will require a device capable of identifying users for the purchase of subsidised cooking oil packets, as the current devices are limited to Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) and Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) recipients,” she told the Dewan Rakyat today.

She was responding to a supplementary question from Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin, who asked whether the new MyKad could be used in place of the eCOSS application when buying subsidised cooking oil.

Fuziah said discussions with NRD and retailers were ongoing to enable the proposed system.

The deputy minister also said more than 5.26 million Malaysians had registered with the eCOSS application as of July 3, with the platform recording an average of 18 million subsidised cooking oil packet purchases each month.

Introduced last year, eCOSS was designed to monitor the distribution of subsidised cooking oil from retailers to consumers, allowing authorities to better track the final stage of the supply chain.

Fuziah said the ministry measures the system's effectiveness by the availability of subsidised cooking oil in the market and its ability to prevent foreigners from purchasing the subsidised product.

She cited Johor as an example, saying complaints over the unavailability of subsidised cooking oil fell from nine in June 2023 to two in June 2024 following the state's pilot implementation of eCOSS.

Recorded sales also rose substantially over the same period, increasing from 1,330 packets in June 2023 to 1.96 million packets after about 580,000 users adopted the application, she said.

Addressing concerns about elderly consumers who may not own smartphones, Fuziah said the ministry would continue to allow manual purchases.

She added that the ministry does not yet have comprehensive data on the number of consumers still relying on the manual method because those transactions are recorded in retailers' logbooks.

“Collecting the information is complicated, but we need to obtain the data because it will give us a clearer picture of how many people still require the manual method,” she said.