Tuntut

An AI agent that finds unclaimed money for Malaysians: MY$3B remains unclaimed as of 2026 and guides them step by step to actually claim it. It doesn't just check; it gets you paid.

Comment

Inspiration

In Malaysia, over RM13 billion (~$3B) in government money sits unclaimed - dormant bank balances, forgotten insurance payouts, and a maze of aid schemes people qualify for but never receive. Almost every country has money like this going unclaimed; in Malaysia it is scattered across a dozen disconnected government portals, each with its own login, forms, and jargon.

The people who need it most - Malaysia's B40 (the bottom 40% of earners: hawkers, ride-share drivers, cleaners, elderly parents) - are the least equipped to navigate it. When one uncle could not work the government app, the official answer was "it's your responsibility to learn how to use it." Real comments under how-to videos read "Can using apps for claiming?" and "STUCK HERE. PLEASE ADVISE."

The money is not the problem. The friction of claiming it is.

What it does

Tuntut (Malay for "to claim") is an AI agent that finds the government benefits and unclaimed money a Malaysian is owed, then guides them to actually claim it - part unclaimed-money finder, part step-by-step claim assistant that does the paperwork with you.

  • Enter your national ID (IC) - Tuntut checks your exact eligibility across schemes: cash aid (SARA), fuel subsidy (BUDI95), free health screening (PeKa B40), the hardship register (eKasih), and the national unclaimed-money registry (eGUMIS). It sorts what's already yours from what needs a form.
  • An on-screen guide walks you through the official claim step by step - highlighting the exact field to fill or button to tap, and reading each step aloud in your language (via ElevenLabs voice) - so even elderly or first-time users can follow ("Do I photograph my IC?", "What does this status mean?").
  • It guides, never impersonates

How we built it

A no-download web app with an AI guide that walks users through each official claim portal. For the demo, the eligibility check and guided walkthrough are real (built on Malaysia's public scheme rules); the one-click auto-claim is simulated, because there is no unified national payment rail. Voice is powered by ElevenLabs - a realtime voice agent via a Vercel serverless signed-URL exchange - with a device-speech fallback so the guide still works without it. Today's live claims go through each portal's own username/password login; a unified MyDigital ID (Malaysia's national single sign-on) integration is designed for later.

Challenges we ran into

Malaysia lacks a unified benefits/payments layer, government portals are unreliable, and the law is clear that no third party may act as an appointed claim-agent - so we deliberately guide, never impersonate.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • A working web app that checks eligibility across real Malaysian schemes (SARA, BUDI95, PeKa B40, eKasih, and the eGUMIS unclaimed-money registry) from just an IC number.
  • An on-screen guide built for people who have never filled a form online: it highlights the exact field or button and reads each step aloud in the user's language (via ElevenLabs), so an elderly parent can follow without help.
  • A safety-first design we can defend to a government: it guides, never impersonates - it hands control to the official service at every gate.
  • Honesty as a feature - the demo clearly separates what is real from what is simulated, and even shows users what they are not eligible for.

What we learned

People discover aid socially (family, word of mouth), not through portals. Elderly users need a strict one-thing-at-a-time interface that shows them exactly where to tap. And with a bureaucratic, high-stakes product, honesty about what is real vs. simulated beats over-claiming every time.

What's next for Tuntut

Voice and text in Malay, Chinese, and Tamil; real end-to-end auto-claim as MyDigital ID and payment rails mature; and a white-label model where foundations fund it to hit their social-impact goals - so it stays free for every citizen.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates