JOHOR BAHRU: From Nov 15, foreign vehicle owners or drivers – including those from Singapore who have not obtained or activated a Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) – will be prohibited from leaving Malaysia until all outstanding fines are cleared.
This comes amid stepped-up VEP enforcement measures in Malaysia that extends beyond Johor to other parts of the country, said Malaysia’s Road Transport Department (JPJ).
“Previously, our operations were confined to Johor, but they are now being expanded nationwide. Any Singapore-registered vehicle found without a VEP anywhere in Malaysia will be subject to the same enforcement action,” JPJ’s director-general Aedy Fadly Ramli was quoted as saying by news agency Benama on Saturday (Nov 1).
He warned that the full enforcement will cover both privately owned vehicles and company-owned private vehicles that either lack a VEP, have an expired VEP, or remain in the pre-registration status.
“Fines will be imposed, and vehicle owners must settle them and complete VEP registration before departing Malaysia. This measure is intended to prevent any complications at the Malaysia-Singapore border,” he was quoted as saying at a press conference at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) customs, immigration and quarantine complex in Johor Bahru.
Local media had previously reported that the enforcement is in line with Section 66H(7) of the Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333), which states that it is an offence for anyone to drive a foreign-registered vehicle without a permit when entering or being present in Malaysia.
Aedy on Saturday said that drivers can settle their fines at JPJ office counters, mobile JPJ counters as well as the VEP registration counter at Danga Bay among others.
The official said that previous enforcement involved issuing foreign vehicle drivers or owners with summons and warning notices, but the time has now come to implement full-scale enforcement.
Since VEP enforcement began on Jul 1, a total of 303,183 radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have been installed on privately owned vehicles, while an additional 31,643 tags have been fitted to company-owned vehicles, Bernama reported.
During the same period, authorities inspected 55,486 vehicles and issued 4,028 fines to owners without a VEP, totalling RM1.2 million (US$286,000).
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-vep-enforcement-singapore-vehicles-5439271
