Kuala Lumpur: The cabinet has scrapped the plan to limit the smartphone rebate scheme to handsets which retail at RM500 and below following public pressure to do so.

According to Bernama, this was announced by the the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) today.

Previously, MCMC chairperson Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi was forced to defend the RM500 cap against stinging criticism from netizens on various online forums.

He said that the cap was necessary because it was intended only for low-income earners.

The scheme is open to Malaysians between 21 and 30 years of age and drawing a salary of RM3,000 and below.

Putrajaya has allocated RM300 million for the scheme, which means that 1.5 million people can apply for the scheme on a first-come-first-served basis.

Those eligible applicants can apply for the rebate online through MCMC's website. At the time of writing, the website is not accessible.

In an earlier statement, MCMC announced that about 5,500 people have applied since online registrations went live yesterday.