It said the levies, meant to be used for the company’s training programmes, were owed by a total of 21,058 employers.

The A-G’s report also said there had been a trend of outstanding levies rising year-on-year, from RM72.47 million in 2020 to RM96 million in 2021, RM141.77 million in 2022 and RM183.87 million last year.

On top of the RM183.87 million owed in 2023, RM21.55 million in levies was owed by inactive employers whose companies had shuttered or been dissolved.

HRD Corp said the high amount of outstanding levies was partly due to the widening of scope of the Human Resources Development Act 2001 from March 2021.

The company said many employers were unaware of the need to pay the levies, while some had financial issues or were in the process of rebuilding their business following the Covid-19 lockdowns.

“Civil action commenced in November 2022 and employers showed a positive response by requesting to pay the outstanding amounts in monthly instalments,” it said.

However, the A-G’s report said HRD Corp had failed to carry out its responsibility to collect the levies.

“The increase in the amount of uncollected levies each year is detrimental to the government and undermines HRD Corp’s goal of encouraging the training and development of workers.”

The A-G’s report also said HRD Corp had amended its key performance indicator (KPI) goals for 2023 without the approval of its board of directors.

It said 20 of the 30 KPIs set for the years 2020 to 2022 were also amended without the board’s green light.

While HRD Corp’s finances were considered stable, the A-G’s report noted dissatisfaction with its governance, saying seven out of nine good governance principles set by the company were not being fully practised.