JOHOR BARU: The government is considering basing the fine structure for those who lose their passports to the one used by the National Registration Department (NRD) for lost or stolen MyKads.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the Immigration Department is serious in its efforts to reduce the number of lost Malaysian passports.

"Our passport is a much sought after item because we allow travel to all countries in the world except Israel. The introduction of a fine will prevent opportunistic people from selling their passports and then report them as missing or stolen.

"We might use the system used by NRD for those who lost their MyKad, where the amount of fine increases with subsequent instances of missing or stolen passports reported to the authorities.

"We are still discussing the quantum for the fine," said Nur Jazlan.

At the moment, there is no penalty imposed on those who lose their passports.

Under the NRD, those who lost their MyKad would be imposed a fine of RM100 for the first instance, RM300 for the second instance and RM1,000 for the third and subsequent instances.

Nur Jazlan, who is also Pulai Member of Parliament, was speaking to the media after visiting the offices of Chinese presses in the city in conjunction with the Chinese New Year.

Media reports cited that more than 80,000 passports have been reported missing between 2010 and 2014.