LOW-income earners have until March 15 to update their household income information with the Finance Ministry to ensure Putrajaya only disburses the second and third payouts of the Cost of Living Aid (Bantuan Sara Hidup) programme to deserving recipients.

Putrajaya paid out the first round of BSH on January 28 to four million households with a total allocation of RM1.2 billion.

The Finance Ministry said that in order to receive further payments this year, eligible applicants must sign up using forms online at https://bsh.hasil.gov.my or at any branch or service centre of the Inland Revenue Board Of Malaysia or government services hubs at Urban Transformation Centres.

The ministry will also help with registrations in remote areas and for specific groups of people, such as the Orang Asli, in interior locations, and the abandoned and neglected.

“The ministry will collaborate with other government agencies such as the Welfare Department Community, Orang Asli Development Department, and Implementation Coordination Unit under the Prime Minister’s Department, which previously conducted the registrations.

“This registration and updating exercise is to ensure that only eligible households receive BSH. The steps are important to ensure the country’s resources are used prudently, targeted at the B40, and avoid the leakage of assistance to capable groups,” the ministry said in a statement today.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said last year that the first payout would have to rely on the database used by the Barisan Nasional government to disburse Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia in order to hand out the funds in January.

He admitted that “undeserving recipients” would still receive the first payout.

BSH is BR1M rebranded and realigned by the Pakatan Harapan government in a more targeted manner to ensure only the needy receive aid.

Under the BSH scheme, households with monthly incomes of RM2,000 and below will receive RM1,000 a year; those with monthly incomes of between RM2,001 and RM 3,000 will receive RM750, and households that earn from RM3,001 to RM4,000 will receive RM500.

The aid is broken into three payouts a year, with the next two in May and August.

The government will also give low-income families an additional RM120 for each child aged below 18, up to a maximum of four children.

Those with children who have disabilities will also receive the same amount with no limit to their age. – February 2, 2019.