PETALING JAYA: The “smart” identity card is a valid identification document, which must be acknowledged by all government agencies and private institutions, the National Registration Department said.

NRD director-general Datuk Azizan Ayob said those holding MyKad, formerly called the Government Multipurpose Card, had been inconvenienced by certain agencies because the card was new and many might not have seen it before.

“Misunderstanding arose in cases where the agencies have refused to accept it during transactions,’’ he said

He added that certain Tabung Haji branches and banks had also rejected the card.

He said their reasoning was that there were no thumbprints visible on the card.

“We have embedded the thumbprints into the microchip for faster and accurate reading by computers.

“Many people cannot differentiate them with the naked eye. With machines, it is done accurately,’’ he said.

He added that the private sector should purchase the devices to access information on the cards.

Commenting on a case where a Road Transport Department (JPJ) officer summoned a driver claiming that MyKad had not been gazetted, Azizan stressed the card was gazetted on Aug 1 and therefore was valid.

“Those who have the cards should not hesitate to use them and the agencies involved must accept it as the new identification card,’’ he told a press conference at his office yesterday.

He reiterated that JPJ had been given 800 units of key ring readers for the purpose of reading driving licence information incorporated into the card.

Azizan added that MyKad which had the words “Lesen Memandu Malaysia” on the back of the card indicated that the holder had a valid driving licence. The expiry date of the licence was embedded in the microchip and could only be read with mobile card acceptance devices.

Other devices, which could read the thumbprints and data on the card include the Morphotouch 200 and desktop readers which can be installed into personal computers.

“A few units of all these different equipment have been supplied to enforcement agencies like the JPJ, Immigration, Police and the Health Ministry,’’ Azizan said.

He added that the NRD received a total of RM276mil to implement the project and for development costs.

He said more of such reading devices would be supplied to the relevant agencies soon.

The department will also embark on a massive promotion of the card in December.

Asked if there was a national enforcement date for the new card, Azizan said the department had yet to fix the date but confirmed that the present identity card would be phased out eventually.

“All those aged 12 and above will receive the new card while those who lose their present card will have no choice but to replace them with the new one,’’ he said.

Azizan said the department had stopped issuing the present identity card and the measure would be extended to branches in Sabah in January and Sarawak in April.

He added that for the time being, cardholders would be allowed to keep both the old and new identity cards and driving licences.

Up till Oct 16, more than 700,000 Malaysians have applied for the new card.

Its present features include identity card, driving licence and passport and in future it will also con- tain health information and be used as e-cash.