KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — The Government Service Efficiency Commitment Bill 2025, aimed at improving government service quality, efficiency, and effectiveness, was passed in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The Bill was approved by a majority voice vote after being debated by 11 MPs from both the government and the Opposition.
During the tabling of the Bill for its second reading, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa said it sought to resolve bureaucratic issues and eliminate unnecessary or outdated regulations, guidelines, and administrative directives to enhance government governance efficiency.
“The government believes the implementation of this Bill can address key issues faced by the people, including those related to daily affairs, business operations, and access to government services,” she said.
Dr Zaliha added that the Bill emphasised the use of automation, artificial intelligence, and system integration to reduce manual tasks that often burdened civil servants and wasted time and resources.
The Bill does not introduce penalties for civil servants who fail to implement changes but instead relies on incentives and periodic monitoring mechanisms.
“There are no automatic penalties or disciplinary actions against civil servants who do not meet targets. Instead, their performance will be assessed, and they will be provided with additional support and resources to enhance their effectiveness,” she said.
If the Bill were to be implemented effectively, civil servants would be able to perform their duties more efficiently as unnecessary processes would be reduced or eliminated, technology would accelerate service delivery and redundant or overlapping tasks would be minimised.
A major shift in process reform involved adopting the "One In, One Out" approach for existing regulations and strengthening government services through the Government as a Platform model and the One Door Policy.
Dr Zaliha said that Clause 11 of the Bill allowed state government entities to voluntarily submit their service performance reports to the Chief Secretary to the Government for rating purposes, in line with the separation of powers under the federalism principle.
Additionally, the Bill introduces a regulatory rating system to promote a more dynamic and high-performance work culture in the public sector, enabling government agencies to measure their performance based on service delivery efficiency.
— Bernama
