Akmal said the special committee included representatives from the finance; digital; and housing and local government ministries, the Inland Revenue Board, police, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, CyberSecurity Malaysia, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

“This special committee will help discuss matters related to policies, legislation and issues of electricity theft across ministries, such as prevention measure improvements, adequate aid for victims, and increased monitoring, while proposing long-term measures.

“It will also help facilitate issues that require policy-level intervention to curb electricity theft,” he said when winding up the committee-stage debate on the Supply Bill (Budget) 2026 for his ministry today.

Akmal, who will be chairing the committee’s meeting at the end of this year, said it would also look into the possibility of a ban on Bitcoin mining and improvements to the Electricity Supply Act 1990 (Act 447).

Section 37(3) of Act 447 currently governs fraudulent electricity use. Domestic offenders face fines of RM1,000 to RM50,000, up to a year’s imprisonment, or both. Non-domestic offenders risk fines of RM20,000 to RM1 million, up to five years’ imprisonment, or both.

Earlier, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said TNB lost RM4.57 billion over the past five years from the illegal use of electricity by premises involved in cryptocurrency mining activities, particularly for Bitcoin.

Fadillah, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, said 13,827 premises nationwide were found illegally using electricity to mine Bitcoin from 2020 to August this year.

At present, there are no specific laws governing cryptocurrency mining in Malaysia.