MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s Transport Minister, Anthony Loke, announced on Wednesday (June 4) that the country would be fully implementing the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) scheme announced last year.
This means that foreign-registered vehicles that enter Malaysia from Singapore without a registered or activated VEP would be subject to fines.
At a media conference, Mr Loke said, “We began this scheme with a soft approach through advocacy in October last year. No summonses were issued then. But beginning July 1, summonses will be issued if there is no valid VEP… Foreign vehicle owners issued with a summons for not having a valid VEP must settle the fine before exiting Malaysia.”
A VEP is a passport of sorts, as it acts as an authorisation permit for drivers of foreign-registered vehicles who want to bring their cars to Malaysia. Mr Loke said in February that motorists from Singapore would be notified in advance before the scheme was enforced.
On Wednesday morning, he said that foreign vehicle owners who have failed to register for a VEP by July 1 will be issued an RM300 (S$91) summons. This means that they will have to pay the fine, as well as complete their VEP registration, before they are allowed to leave Malaysia. Those who pre-registered for the VEP will also be made to pay the fine before they leave the country.
This goes as well for private company vehicles with no valid VEP. However, those with unactivated VEPs will be allowed to leave Malaysia but will be given a reminder notice.
“There are quite a lot of vehicles in this category that are still in the registration process due to incomplete documents,” said Mr Loke, adding that there is a new system that allows them to accomplish this, and that they are being given the opportunity and time to do so.
The Transport Minister said that the summons will be issued physically and would need to be paid through cashless methods through the MyEG app, mobile counters, or at Road Transport Department counters.
Enforcement checks will be conducted from time to time away from the land border checkpoints between the two countries in order to avoid traffic build-ups, Mr Loke added.
As of Monday (June 2), 231,018 RFID tags under the VEP scheme have been issued to private vehicles, although 36,511 have not yet been installed or activated. /TISG