CPRC: Use of MySejahtera check-in mandatory at petrol pumps



A news report from China Press concerning the mandatory use of the MySejahtera app even while fuelling up at a petrol station went viral yesterday evening. The report quoted Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department deputy director DCP Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid, who said “If the people do not register or scan, how will the police trace them if there are Covid-19 cases in the area?”

However, shortly after the news broke, we also sighted an email conversation with the Health Ministry’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) dated 24th of October that was making rounds on social medias. The response from CPRC classified fuelling petrol at the pumps as “brief encounters”, thus not requiring users to “check-in” using the application.

A later news report by Sin Chew Daily said that even phone operators at the National Security Council (NSC) were providing contradicting statements on the mandatory use of the contract tracing application at petrol fuel pumps.

Due to the ambiguity in the reports, we have decided to contact the CPRC directly today morning to seek for clarification. This was the agent’s response, translated and paraphrased: “According to the latest Ministry of Health (MOH) directive, you will be required to check-in with your MySejahtera app even if you are only fuelling up your car at the petrol pumps.

“This is to assist with the MOH’s efforts in contact tracing in the event that there is a confirmed case at the petrol station,” the agent explained.

So yes, it should now be mandatory to check-in using the MySejahtera application, or jot down your details in the booklet at the petrol stations even when you are just fuelling up your vehicles – as the saying goes, better safe than sorry. Failure to do so might result in a fine of RM1,000, and nobody needs that in this Covid-19 economic climate!