Malaysians rush to register for Padu after launch, some delays reported

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the public were reported to be rushing to register with the Central Database Hub (Padu) system as soon as it was launched on Tuesday (Jan 2).

Checks by Bernama on social media showed that internet users generally welcomed the government's initiative to launch Padu, as it was seen as beneficial in the distribution of aid to the people.

However, the clamour to register with Padu reportedly made the website difficult to access due to system congestion, despite earlier concerns expressed by some quarters regarding the safety of information stored in the system.

Some social media users said they could not access the Padu website because of the high traffic volume while others claimed their attempts to register got stuck when they did not receive an OTP SMS.

TaufiqMNi (@TaufiqMNi) posted on X, "Banyak kali tersangkut di pengesahan e-KYC, kod 100. Capaian akses tidak sah. Acane? #PADU".

Another X user, Ahmad Izzuddin Sapiee (@ahmadizz87), suggested that the authorities upgrade the Padu system with the multiple verification function to ease the registration process for new users, apart from using OTP SMS.

"The SMS OTP code comes late. Quite a long delay and it becomes invalid within five minutes. The Padu system can be improved with the multiple-user verification function, like for Gmail login. Pray that this multiple verification function will be added in the next upgrade," he said.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, in a post on X, said complaints on the OTP issue received so far only involved Celcom users and not subscribers of other telcos.

However, in a post on X, Rafizi said that this problem had been solved by 3.30pm. He also said that as at 5pm, four hours after its launch, more than 70,000 registrations had been made to the Padu system, with 60% completed with e-KYC validation.

He also refuted former deputy international trade and industry minister Ong Kian Ming's claim that the e-KYC would take three days to complete.

"The industry standard for e-KYC does say it will take up to three days, but so far, the e-KYC for users has been given within five minutes of registration.

"If anyone finds that their account has been registered by someone else, they should contact the Helpdesk (online, via the Call Centre or physical counters) immediately," he said in his post.

He added that registration with Padu can only be made through padu.gov.my.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim launched the Padu system at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) today.

Padu was developed using internal expertise in the Economy Ministry, Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM) and Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu), with the cooperation and support of various ministries, agencies and state governments.

All citizens aged 18 years and above are required to register and update their data on the Padu portal by verifying 39 pieces of personal information.