Can Your Spouse Use Their MyKad To Fuel RON95 In Your Car Or Not? Here’s The Definitive Answer
The rules around MyKad and RON95 purchases have confused a lot of Malaysians. The government's own FAQs already answered this. Here's what it actually says, and where the line gets drawn.
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A man in Kelantan was recently arrested for using four different identity cards to buy over 100 litres of RON95
The case prompted the National Registration Department (JPN) to issue a firm public reminder that using someone else's MyKad to purchase subsidised fuel is illegal, regardless of your relationship to that person.
But the arrest — and the reminder — have since sparked a wave of confusion online. If borrowing a family member's MyKad is illegal, what about families who share a car? Can a husband and wife, or a parent and child, each use their own MyKads for the same vehicle?
The short answer: Yes.
Any family member can use their own MyKad to fill up a shared car — but only if they are physically present at the pump themselves. What is illegal is using, borrowing, or lending someone else's MyKad, regardless of your relationship to them.
That distinction is what most people are missing.
The government already answered this in the official BUDI95 FAQs
When the RON95 subsidy rationalisation was introduced, the government published an official list of frequently asked questions to address scenarios exactly like this one. One of them asks directly whether a husband and wife can use their respective MyKads to fill up the same vehicle.
The official answer: yes — a spouse, parent, sibling, or any other individual can each use their own MyKad to fill up the same car, as long as the MyKad owner is physically present and personally conducts the purchase themselves.
The government FAQs also make the boundary explicit in the same breath: you are not permitted to use someone else's MyKad, nor to lend yours out to another person — even a family member — for the purpose of buying RON95.
The one condition that changes everything, you have to be there yourself
This is the part that matters, and it applies across every family scenario without exception.
JPN director-general Datuk Badrul Hisham Alias stated this in his reminder to Malaysians, "All counter transactions, including the purchase of fuel, must be conducted personally by the actual MyKad owner."
The rule is not about the car. It is about who is physically holding the card at the pump. If that person is not the one named and pictured on the MyKad, the transaction is a criminal offence under Regulation 25 of the National Registration Regulations 1990.
Here is how it plays out across common family situations
Husband and wife sharing one car: Both can use their individual MyKads to fill up the same vehicle. But each must be physically present at the pump when they do it. A wife cannot hand her MyKad to her husband to top up the tank on her behalf, even if it is their shared family car.
Parent and child sharing a car: A parent and an adult child who share a vehicle can each use their own MyKad to fill it up — again, only when they are personally present at the station. A child cannot bring the parent's MyKad to the pump, and a parent cannot send a child to fill up using their card.
Siblings who share or borrow a car: The same rule applies. A brother or sister can use their own MyKad on a shared or borrowed vehicle, but only if they are the one standing at the pump. Handing a sibling your MyKad to fill up for you is not allowed.
Sending any family member to pump fuel using your MyKad: Not allowed. It does not matter whether it is your spouse, your parents, your children, your siblings, or any other relative.
If your MyKad is being used at the pump, you need to be there.
Lending your MyKad out could get you in trouble, too
JPN also reminded the public that consequences do not only fall on the person using the card. The registered owner of a MyKad can also face legal action if their card is misused, even if it was lent willingly and with good intentions.
Under both the National Registration Act 1959 and Regulation 25 of the National Registration Regulations 1990, using or possessing another person's identity card is a criminal offence.
The Kelantan case — where a man was caught using four different MyKads to purchase more than 100 litres of RON95 — is now being used as a reference point as authorities investigate similar incidents nationwide.
So to be absolutely clear
The subsidy quota under BUDI95 is tied to the individual, not the vehicle. That is precisely what allows multiple family members to each claim their own allocation for the same car. But every single one of them must show up in person to do it.
You can share a car. You can each use your own MyKad on that car. What you cannot do is use, borrow, or lend a MyKad — no matter who it belongs to, and no matter how closely related you are.
If you are at the pump, use your own card. That is the only rule that matters here.
