Man Fined RM10K For Failing To Check In With MySejahtera App At Restaurant

Man fined RM10K for not using MySejahtera app

RM1,000 in fines already seems like a hefty price to pay for breaching the Movement Control Order (MCO) guidelines. But as of yesterday, 11th March 2021, up to RM10,000 fines for MCO-related offences is now effective. A viral post that have been making its rounds on Facebook sees one of the first incidents of someone getting hit with the whopping RM10K fine since its implementation, after an unnamed man failed to check in with MySejahtera app at Motto Kitchen in Bukit Jalil.

Birthday party leads to RM10K fine for individual

The story was shared on Facebook by netizen Christina Phoon II today, 12th March, where it quickly went viral with over 13,000 shares on Facebook at the time of writing. In the post, written in Chinese, Christina said that she had been at the Bukit Jalil restaurant Motto Kitchen with her friends for a birthday party when one of them got hit with the RM10K saman.

Man gets fined RM10k for not checking in with MySejahtera - post
Image adapted from: Christina Phoon II

The incident allegedly happened because her friend had failed to scan the MySejahtera QR code with the app at the restaurant, as his phone’s battery had died and the restaurant had no logbooks for him to write his check-in manually.

Checking in for contact tracing with the MySejahtera app is now mandatory in cities and towns with high-speed internet as of 9th February 2021, as reported by Malay Mail.

Man gets fined RM10k for not checking in with MySejahtera - restaurant
Image adapted from: Christina Phoon II

In the post, she also shared that this is the first time that her friend got hit with a RM10,000 fine. Although, it is not stated whether he had previously been fined for any other MCO-related offences before.

According to an article on The Edge Markets, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador said that authorised officers can issue a RM10,000 notice to offenders of MCO guidelines, but the actual figure of the fine will be determined by District Health Officers (PKD).

Image adapted from: Christina Phoon II

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily, the man in the story clarified that he had scanned the QR code, just not with the MySejahtera app, which landed him the fine as he could not show evidence for contact tracing. He also said that the police advised him to appeal to the health ministry, and that he would do so soon.

According to this report by New Straits Times, offenders can appeal against the punishment.

Christina also shared that the owner of the restaurant is currently facing RM50,000 fines. The Smart Local Malaysia has reached out to both Christina and the restaurant for a comment, but have yet to receive a response.

Image credit: Google Maps

Man who didn’t scan MySejahtera code fined RM10K

Guidelines have been implemented to help curb the spread of COVID-19, but fines that follow from a failure to adhere to them isn’t an easy burden to bear for anyone living through this tough times, especially a fine as hefty as RM10,000. So we hope that this man can appeal to related authorities to lessen his fine if possible.