No plans to chase PTPTN defaulters through debt collectors

The Malaysian Ministry of Education will not be using debt collection agencies to recover unsettled amounts from 170,000 loan defaulters from the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

According to Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan, the methods used by debt collection agencies to recover debts were not customer-friendly and could destroy the ministry's reputation.

Since 30 October, some 134,000 PTPTN defaulters with total loans of RM2.4 billion have been blacklisted by the Immigration department.

"Of that total, some 48,430 borrowers repaid their loans amounting to RM244.5 million, while more than 170,000 borrowers have been fined," he added.

Since their announcement, in January, to list loan defaulters under the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS), the loan repayment amount increased. The amount collected between 1 to 30 November reached RM74.85 million, higher than October's total collection of RM58.11 million.