Touch No Go

Security upgrade launched for Touch ’n Go cards

All Touch 'n Go card users will have to register and upgrade their cards for better security features beginning tomorrow until Dec 8. Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd, which operates the electronic stored value card, said cards which were not upgraded would not function after the deadline.

Users should bring their cards to any Touch 'n Go counter, including “add value” lanes at toll plazas, for the upgrading process, RSSB chief operating officer Swinder Grewal said in a statement yesterday.

There are around 2.8 million cards in circulation and one million MyKad holders with Touch 'n Go facilities. “Touch 'n Go security features have not been compromised in the past but as new technology is available, it is time to update the card to maintain a fraud-free status,” she said.

On the registration process, Swinder said users who did not previously register should go to a Touch 'n Go counter and give their details by filling in a registration form. They could also call the Touch 'n Go Careline Centre at 03-76285115, she said. Forms can be downloaded from Touch 'n Go's website www.touchngo.com.my and either faxed to 03-76285100, e-mailed to touchngo_careline@rsegar.com or posted to RSSB's headquarters.

“With this exercise, details of card owners will enable RSSB to refund the money left in the card in the case of stolen or lost cards,” Swinder said, adding that the information would remain confidential. Registration would also allow RSSB to give out free itemised on-line Touch 'n Go transaction statements or e-statements, she said.

Swinder said all users who upgrade, register or purchase new cards would automatically qualify for “The Winning Touch” lucky draw contest and stand to win a 42-inch plasma television every week or a Volvo S40 at the end of the period. For more information, please call the Touch 'n Go Careline or check RSSB's website.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers' Associations (Fomca) advisor Datuk Hamdan Adnan said any security feature upgrading without any cost to the consumer was most welcome. “This move will encourage greater use of the card. People will be more confident putting money in their card as they can get refunds if the cards are lost,” he said. As RSSB would earn more revenue, Hamdan said it should reduce the cost of the SmartTag. He also questioned the durability of the MyKad, especially when it was used frequently for its Touch ’n Go facilities.

Cards which were not upgraded would not function after the deadline?

If that happens, will it constitute a breach of contract? RSSB will have to study the legal implications. Any change of terms in the contract by one party without agreement of the other party to a contract is a breach and constitute a repudiation of contract. The injured party can sue for loss and damages as provided under section 74 of the Contracts Act 1950.

Take care, Rangkaian Segar; we Malaysians are not dim-wits ... a plasma TV and a Volvo is definite an appetiser; but only 2 person can win out of the 3.8 million cardholders.