In Malaysia, a company that once symbolised the promise of digital governance now stands at the centre of a financial and political reckoning. Zetrix AI, formerly MyEG, has failed to remit more than RM200 million in vehicle taxes and licensing fees collected on behalf of the Road Transport Department since May 2023, even as its share price has shed 80 percent of its value and its debt has swelled to levels that alarm auditors. The crisis raises enduring questions about the risks of entrusting public revenue collection to politically connected private firms, and what accountability looks like w
Malaysian tech firm Zetrix owes RM200M to government amid financial collapse
The money never made it to the department
Mark
So Zetrix was supposed to collect money for the government and hand it over. They just... didn't?
Mimi
Right. From May 2023 onward, they were collecting road tax renewals, driving license fees, traffic fines—all of it—and the money never made it to the Road Transport Department. By September, the gap was over RM200 million.
Luke
Do we know why? Is this negligence, or is it a cash flow problem where they collected it but spent it?
Mimi
The documents don't specify the mechanism. What we know is the money didn't arrive. Given what happened next—the debt spiral, the margin calls—it looks like a cash flow crisis, but that's inference.
Mark
And the company itself is falling apart?
Mimi
Spectacularly. The share price dropped 80 percent since August. Market value went from RM6 billion to RM1.2 billion in months. The managing director was forced to sell off most of his stake because of margin calls on pledged shares.
Luke
What triggered the August collapse specifically?
Mimi
Margin calls, primarily. But the underlying issue is debt—RM2.2 billion in borrowings, up from RM160 million five years ago. Development costs for AI and blockchain projects hit RM3.7 billion, which is more than half their total assets.
Mark
Why was the government letting them spend like that if they weren't remitting collected funds?
Luke
That's the real question, isn't it? The contract was supposed to be three years starting May 2023. Either oversight failed, or the government didn't have visibility into the cash flow. We don't know which.
Mimi
The Transport Ministry is now figuring out what to do. They want a more reliable digital payment system, but they also need to recover the RM200 million.
Mark
Is there any chance they'll get it back?
Luke
That depends on whether Zetrix survives and whether there are assets to seize. The company is still operating, but at a fraction of its former value. And there's a political dimension—UMNO is in the coalition government, and Zetrix's chairman is a former UMNO council member.
Mimi
Which is why the government official who confirmed the debt asked to remain anonymous. It's politically sensitive.
Mark
So this could drag on?
Mimi
Almost certainly. The precedent is the National Feedlot Corporation case, which took years to resolve and involved court orders.
El Pulso
- More than RM200 million in public funds — collected from ordinary Malaysians paying road tax, driving licenses, and traffic fines — has not been handed over to the government, and the gap has been widening for over two years.
- Zetrix's share price has collapsed 80 percent since August 2026, wiping out billions in market value and triggering forced share sales by its managing director, who has had to offload nearly two-thirds of his stake to meet margin calls.
- Beneath the market turmoil lies a structural crisis: corporate debt has ballooned nearly fourteen-fold in five years, and auditors have flagged RM3.7 billion in development costs — more than half the company's total assets — as a serious concern.
- The firm's political connections, including an executive chairman with UMNO ties and a share price slide that accelerated after a corruption charge against a former minister, have made the government's response a delicate matter within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition.
- Malaysia's Transport Ministry is now weighing its next steps, seeking both to recover the outstanding debt and to build a more dependable digital payment system — a search for reliability where trust has been badly eroded.
In Malaysia, a company that once symbolised the promise of digital governance now stands at the centre of a financial and political reckoning. Zetrix AI, formerly MyEG, has failed to remit more than RM200 million in vehicle taxes and licensing fees collected on behalf of the Road Transport Department since May 2023, even as its share price has shed 80 percent of its value and its debt has swelled to levels that alarm auditors. The crisis raises enduring questions about the risks of entrusting public revenue collection to politically connected private firms, and what accountability looks like when the two become difficult to separate.
A Malaysian digital services firm that once held a market value exceeding RM10 billion has collapsed into financial crisis, leaving the government owed more than RM200 million in vehicle taxes, driving license fees, and traffic fines it collected but never remitted. Zetrix AI, formerly known as MyEG, has been accumulating this shortfall since the start of its three-year Road Transport Department contract in May 2023, with official documents confirming the gap had grown well past RM200 million by the end of September 2026.
The company's decline has been swift and severe. Since August, its share price has fallen roughly 80 percent — from a market capitalisation of RM6 billion to just over RM1.2 billion — driven largely by margin calls on shares pledged as collateral by managing director and largest shareholder Wong Thean Soon, who has been forced to sell nearly two-thirds of his stake. The deeper problem is structural: Zetrix's total debt has ballooned to RM2.2 billion, nearly fourteen times what it owed five years ago, while auditors have flagged RM3.7 billion in development costs as a key concern — a figure representing more than half the company's total assets.
Zetrix had staked its future on artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to compensate for the gradual erosion of its once-exclusive government contracts. Its blockchain infrastructure now underpins Malaysia's national digital identity platform, and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation invested RM156 million in the firm earlier this year. Yet the aggressive spending has not steadied the business.
Political sensitivities complicate the picture further. The company's executive chairman is a former UMNO senator, and its share price slide accelerated after a former minister was charged with corruption in late August — though Zetrix has denied any direct connection. A government official confirmed the outstanding debt on condition of anonymity, citing the delicacy of UMNO's role in the ruling coalition. The Transport Ministry is now evaluating how to recover the funds and secure a more reliable digital payment system going forward.
Zetrix's fall is a sharp reversal for a company that was once a pioneer of online government services, listed on Bursa Malaysia and celebrated as a model of digital innovation. Its troubles echo an older controversy: the National Feedlot Corporation, another UMNO-linked entity, received a RM250 million government loan in 2007 and misused significant portions of it, with courts eventually ordering repayment. As of press time, Zetrix has not responded to requests for comment.
A Malaysian digital services company that once commanded a market value exceeding RM10 billion has collapsed into financial crisis, leaving the government owed more than RM200 million in uncollected vehicle taxes, driving license fees, and traffic fines. Zetrix AI, formerly known as MyEG, has failed to remit money it collected on behalf of the Road Transport Department since the start of its three-year contract in May 2023—a gap that official documents confirm has widened to well over RM200 million by the end of September.
The company's troubles run deeper than a single accounting failure. Since August, Zetrix's share price has collapsed by roughly 80 percent, eroding its market capitalization from RM6 billion in early 2026 to just over RM1.2 billion. The stock closed at RM0.165 on October 1. This sharp decline was triggered primarily by margin calls on pledged shares that the company's managing director and largest shareholder, Wong Thean Soon, had used as collateral for financing. Wong has been forced to divest nearly two-thirds of his 29 percent stake since August 27 alone.
Behind the margin calls lies a deeper structural problem: Zetrix's debt has ballooned to RM2.2 billion, nearly fourteen times the RM160 million the company owed five years earlier. Its net debt now stands at RM1.65 billion—more than twenty-three times the RM71 million figure from 2021. External auditors have flagged soaring development costs as a key audit matter, noting that the figure has climbed to RM3.7 billion, representing more than half the company's total assets of RM6.7 billion, compared to less than RM200 million in 2020.
Zetrix's pivot into new technology businesses—particularly artificial intelligence and blockchain—was meant to offset the loss of its monopolistic government contracts. The company's blockchain technology now powers MyDigital ID, Malaysia's national digital identity management platform. The World Bank Group's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, invested RM156 million in the firm in February to support these technology initiatives. Yet the aggressive spending on development has not stabilized the company's financial position.
The firm's political connections have added another layer of sensitivity to the crisis. Zetrix's current executive chairman, Norraesah Mohamed, is a former UMNO supreme council member and senator. The company's sharp decline in share price accelerated after former human resources minister Saravanan Murugan was charged with corruption in late August, though Zetrix has denied any direct links to the UMNO politician. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is politically sensitive given UMNO's role in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's multi-coalition government, confirmed the outstanding debt and noted that the Transport Ministry is now weighing its next steps while seeking a more reliable digital payment system.
Zetrix's fall from grace is particularly stark given its history. Listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2025, the company had been a stock market darling as a pioneer in online government services transactions. At its peak in 2018, it held a market capitalization exceeding RM10 billion. The company has collected billions of ringgit since its initial appointment in 2000 to provide digital counter services for the Road Transport Department, the Immigration Department, and other government agencies handling permits and insurance for foreign workers.
The company's troubles accelerated when UMNO lost power for the first time since independence in the 2018 general election. The uncertain future of its monopolistic contracts began to weigh on the business. When the RTD contract expired in May 2026, customers gained the option to use either MyEG or the department's own digital gateways—a loss of exclusivity that forced the company to seek new revenue streams.
Zetrix is not the first UMNO-linked entity to face questions over government money. The National Feedlot Corporation received a RM250 million government loan in 2007 to transform the local beef industry but instead used significant sums to purchase properties, including a luxury apartment in Kuala Lumpur. In 2023, a court ordered the company, controlled by the family of former UMNO women's chief Shahrizat Jalil, to repay RM34 million and handed seized properties and RM87 million back to the government. As of press time, Zetrix has not responded to requests for comment on the outstanding debt or its financial position.
Citas Notables
As of end September, the amount outstanding is well over RM200 million. Right now, the Transport Ministry is mulling the next step as it wants to have a more reliable digital payment system but also wants to make sure the money owed is paid up.— Government official (anonymous)
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