KUALA LUMPUR (April 15): The public can now make digital payments beyond RM30,000 up to RM500,000 for court bails through Pertama Digital Bhd's application called eJamin.

In a bourse filing today, Permata Digital said eJamin is a digital court bail payment solution introduced during the Opening of the Legal Year by the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, in January last year.

The firm said with the support of court officers throughout the country, eJamin has reduced the bail process from half a day to mere minutes, enabling bail payments via smartphones and web browsers.

It said that previously, online bank transfers by individuals for bails were capped at RM30,000 for each transaction in accordance with the Standard B2C Financial Process Exchange (FPX) Limit of Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet).

This limit has now been increased to RM500,000, it said.

Pertama Digital executive director Sabri Abdul Rahman thanked the Malaysian Judiciary on this initiative, as well as for the assistance of PayNet and participating banks.

Meanwhile, Amanda Sabri, chief executive officer of DAPAT Vista (M) Sdn Bhd (a member of the Pertama Digital group) that operates eJamin, said as bail amounts in Malaysia can range from a few thousands up to a million or more, the increase in FPX limit for each transaction will enable more people to take advantage of the convenient digital bail process through eJamin.

"Previously, people had to rush between the court and banks to complete the bail process manually.

"If bail was paid late, the accused person would face time in lock-up.

"Facilitating quick bail pending conclusion of court cases helps avoid queues at banks and courts and cramming in lock-ups, hence complying with physical distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic," she said.

Pertama Digital said to date, eJamin has been implemented in more than 140 court locations around Malaysia and the number is still growing in line with the courts' encouragement towards the digital shift.

Pertama Digital said it is also currently working on expanding the digital bail system for police remands and the Syariah criminal courts.

Earlier this year, Pertama Digital reported that a total of RM45.46 million in bail collections was collected from January to December 2020, with a monthly growth rate of 18.21%.

In the morning session today, Pertama Digital dipped 1.27% or 0.5 sen to 39 sen, with 99,700 shares traded.