GOVERNMENT SERVICE EFFICIENCY COMMITMENT ACT 2025

Government Service Efficiency Commitment LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 867 GOVERNMENT SERVICE EFFICIENCY COMMITMENT ACT 2025 1 2 Laws of Malaysia Act 867 Date of Royal Assent ... ... 6 May 2025 Date of publication in the Gazette ... ... 22 May 2025 Publisher’s Copyright C PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BERHAD All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without the prior permission of Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad (Appointed Printer to the Government of Malaysia). Government Service Efficiency Commitment LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 867 GOVERNMENT SERVICE EFFICIENCY COMMITMENT ACT 2025 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section 1. Short title and commencement 2. Application 3. Act to be read together with relevant written laws 4. Interpretation 5. Principles of Commitment 6. Reduction of regulatory burden 7. Service performance rating method 8. Duties and powers of Chief Secretary to the Government 9. Duties of head of Government entity 10. Service performance report and rating of Government entity 11. Service performance report and rating of State Government entity 12. Government Service Efficiency Commitment Report 13. Exemption 14. Directives, circulars and guidelines 3 4 Laws of Malaysia Act 867 5 Government Service Efficiency Commitment LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 867 GOVERNMENT SERVICE EFFICIENCY COMMITMENT ACT 2025 An Act to enhance the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the Government service by addressing bureaucracy, reducing regulatory burden and implementing service performance ratings, and to provide for related matters. [ ] ENACTED by the Parliament of Malaysia as follows: Short title and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Government Service Efficiency Commitment Act 2025. (2) This Act comes into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette. Application 2. This Act shall apply to the Government and Government entities. Act to be read together with relevant written laws 3. This Act shall be read together with the relevant written laws and the provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of the relevant written laws. 6 Laws of Malaysia Act 867 Interpretation 4. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “regulatory burden” means any regulatory or administrative requirements imposed by a regulatory instrument on individuals or businesses which are excessive, irrelevant or inefficient, or have detrimental effects; “Government entity” means— (a) any ministry, department, office, authority or agency, of the Government, or any other entity in the Government service; (b) any statutory body of the Government established under an Act of Parliament; or (c) the local authorities of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya; “regulatory instrument” means— (a) any subsidiary legislation made under the Federal Constitution or any Act of Parliament; or (b) any directive, circular, guidelines, procedure, work process or any other form of administrative instrument issued by a Government entity; “head of Government entity” means any officer who is responsible for a Government entity, including any officer authorized in writing by the head of Government entity to act on his behalf; “Minister” means the Prime Minister or any Minister designated by the Prime Minister; “Principles of Commitment” means the Principles of Commitment specified under section 5. Government Service Efficiency Commitment 7 Principles of Commitment 5. Government service delivery shall be based on the Principles of Commitment as follows: (a) service efficiency, namely the delivery of services that is efficient, effective and easily accessible; (b) responsibility in governance, namely the practice of ethical and high-performance work culture at all levels of Government entities by instilling accountability, integrity and transparency in the delivery of services to individuals and businesses; (c) structural reform, namely the implementation of continuous changes and improvement in Government entities and regulatory instruments to reduce bureaucracy and to adapt to technological advancement and current changes; and (d) responsibility in regulatory effectiveness, namely the responsibility in reducing regulatory burden guided by the values of efficiency, effectiveness and necessity. Reduction of regulatory burden 6. (1) A Government entity shall, at every three-year interval— (a) review the procedures under its regulatory instruments; and (b) reduce the regulatory burden by at least twenty-five percent. (2) The Government entity shall perform the obligations under paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) to ensure that its regulatory instruments are efficient, effective and necessary. (3) No new regulatory instrument shall come into operation unless at least one regulatory instrument on the same subject matter, as determined in the manner as specified in the guidelines issued by the Chief Secretary to the Government, is revoked. 8 Laws of Malaysia Act 867 (4) The Minister may, after consultation with the Chief Secretary to the Government, by order published in the Gazette, amend the interval under subsection (1) or the percentage of reduction of regulatory burden under paragraph (1)(b). Service performance rating method 7. (1) The Chief Secretary to the Government shall establish a rating method which is consistent with the Principles of Commitment to measure, assess and monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of Government service delivery. (2) The rating method under subsection (1) shall— (a) objectively and transparently measure and assess the service performance of a Government entity; (b) use clear criteria to measure and assess the service performance of a Government entity which comprise efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and adherence to the Principles of Commitment; and (c) ensure that the result of the measurement and assessment can be used to improve and enhance the quality of service of a Government entity. Duties and powers of Chief Secretary to the Government 8. (1) The Chief Secretary to the Government shall carry out the following duties: (a) to plan, implement and monitor policies in respect of the Principles of Commitment; (b) to make recommendations to the Minister on a method of assessment and rating of service performance of a Government entity; (c) to advise and recommend to the Minister on the implementation of the Principles of Commitment and any other matter relating to this Act; Government Service Efficiency Commitment 9 (d) to undertake any other things arising out of or consequential to the provisions under this Act consistent with the purposes of this Act. (2) The Chief Secretary to the Government shall have all such powers as may be necessary for, or in connection with, or reasonably incidental to, the carrying out of his duties under this Act. Duties of head of Government entity 9. (1) The head of Government entity shall carry out the following duties: (a) to ensure that the management and services of the Government entity under his supervision are aligned with the purposes of this Act and Principles of Commitment, and comply with policies as determined from time to time; (b) to ensure that the governance at all levels of the Government entity under his supervision is implemented with dedication, integrity, accountability and transparency; (c) to provide a framework for structural reform to reduce the regulatory burden together with planning information as well as directions for the structural reform; (d) to monitor the implementation of policies and directives in relation to the Principles of Commitment at all levels of the Government entity under his supervision; (e) to coordinate and monitor the service performance of the Government entity under his supervision towards achieving the rating targets; (f) to prepare and submit to the Chief Secretary to the Government periodic service performance reports for rating purposes; (g) to submit any other information as may be directed by the Chief Secretary to the Government; (h) to perform any other duties imposed on him under this Act. 10 Laws of Malaysia Act 867 (2) The head of Government entity shall have all such powers as may be necessary for, or in connection with, or reasonably incidental to, the carrying out of his duties under this Act. Service performance report and rating of Government entity 10. (1) The head of Government entity shall, from time to time as determined by the Chief Secretary to the Government, submit a service performance report to the Chief Secretary to the Government. (2) The Chief Secretary to the Government shall cause the service performance report submitted by the head of Government entity under subsection (1) to be examined, assessed and considered for rating in accordance with the rating method established under section 7. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the Minister shall, after consultation with the Chief Secretary to the Government, appoint any person with appropriate qualifications to examine and assess a service performance report of a Government entity, and the person shall submit his findings to the Chief Secretary to the Government. (4) Upon receiving the findings with regard to a service performance report of a Government entity, the Chief Secretary to the Government shall review and consider the findings and give a rating to the Government entity. (5) Any Government entity that achieves a rating as determined by the Chief Secretary to the Government may be considered to receive incentives and recognition from the Government. (6) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act— (a) the Minister may use the service performance report of a Government entity as a criteria for determining the granting of Government financial allocation to the Government entity; and (b) the Minister may cause the service performance report of any Government entity to be laid before the Dewan Rakyat. Government Service Efficiency Commitment 11 Service performance report and rating of State Government entity 11. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, the Chief Secretary to the Government may receive, assess and consider a service performance report submitted voluntarily to the Chief Secretary to the Government by any State Government entity. (2) The Chief Secretary to the Government shall cause the service performance report submitted by the head of a State Government entity under subsection (1) to be examined, assessed and considered for rating in accordance with the rating method established under section 7. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the Minister shall, after consultation with the Chief Secretary to the Government, appoint any person with appropriate qualifications to examine and assess a service performance report of a State Government entity, and the person shall submit his findings to the Chief Secretary to the Government. (4) Upon receiving the findings with regard to the service performance report of a State Government entity, the Chief Secretary to the Government shall review and consider the findings and may— (a) give a rating to the State Government entity in accordance with the rating method established under section 7; (b) determine an incentive or recognition that may be given to the State Government entity; and (c) impose any conditions for spending any incentive given to the State Government entity. (5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, the Minister may use a service performance report of a State Government entity as a criteria for determining the granting of Government financial allocation to the State Government entity. 12 Laws of Malaysia Act 867 (6) For the purposes of this section, “State Government entity” means— (