Kuala lumpur: The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) has proposed that the government extend the Perlindungan Tenang Voucher (PTV) scheme to cover motorcycles under Budget 2026, as part of efforts to improve insurance penetration and road safety.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, PIAM chief executive officer Chua Kim Soon highlighted the significant number of uninsured motorcycles on Malaysian roads, which leaves riders and accident victims without adequate protection. Chua emphasized that including motorcycles in the PTV scheme would enhance insurance uptake and ensure better safety and compensation for those involved in accidents. He shared these insights with Bernama during PIAM’s 2025 half-year performance briefing.
The PTV Programme, launched in September 2021, is a government initiative aimed at expanding social protection for the lower-income group and is currently available to eligible Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) recipients. However, it presently excludes motorcycle coverage. Chua pointed out that extending the scheme could play a crucial role in improving compliance with road tax and insurance requirements.
Furthermore, Chua suggested that the government should offer incentives to encourage insurers to develop affordable insurance products for the lower-income group. He noted that the B40 community often faces affordability challenges when it comes to insurance coverage. Chua proposed that government incentives, such as higher tax deductions, could motivate insurers to offer more affordable protection, despite the high operational and distribution costs involved in designing low-sum-insured and low-premium products for the B40 segment.
Chua also addressed the concern of climate risk, as Malaysia experiences more frequent and unpredictable weather events like floods. He urged the government to encourage insurers to invest in research and data collection on climate risk by offering incentives. This would enable the industry to better understand and price these risks, leading to improved products and claims management.
In addition, Chua expressed support for the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia’s (LIAM) recent proposal to raise the tax relief limit for education, medical, and health insurance premiums from RM4,000 to RM6,000 under Budget 2026. He argued that adequate coverage from a decade ago may no longer suffice due to inflation and rising medical costs, and increasing the tax relief limit would encourage more Malaysians to upgrade their protection.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who also serves as the Finance Minister, is slated to present Budget 2026 in Parliament tomorrow.