He said effective Oct 1, enforcement action will be taken against anyone driving a foreign motor vehicle without a VEP as required under Section 66H (7) Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333).
The law provides a compound or a fine of not more than RM2,000 or imprisonment for up to six months upon conviction.
"The Road Transport Department (JPJ) has the authority to stop any foreign vehicle that does not have a VEP from entering Malaysia.
"Enforcement of the VEP allows us to track foreign vehicles coming and leaving Malaysia and if there is a (traffic) summons, it has to be settled before the vehicle leaves the country," he told a press conference here today.
Loke said the VEP registration had been implemented since April 2019 for foreign vehicles crossing at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex Sultan Iskandar Building and Sultan Abu Bakar Building in Johor, but the regulation was not enforced.
Based on records, about 70,000 Singapore-registered motor vehicles have activated the VEP tags from more than 200,000 vehicles registered, he said.
As such, he urged foreign vehicle owners with expiring VEPs to renew the VEP or register the vehicles for the permit.
"MOT hopes that foreign motor vehicle owners immediately register, install and activate VEP Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to avoid problems when entering and leaving Malaysia," he said.
Loke said the VEP registration process has now been simplified with the VEP RFID tag sent to the applicants at their respective addresses.
"The RFID VEP tag is sent to the given address and the vehicle owner can install it," he said, adding that the vehicle owner is charged RM10 for the RFID VEP tag which is valid for five years.
Meanwhile, Loke said the government intends to expand the regulation on road charge (RC) and VEP to the Malaysia-Thailand border and invite interested and qualified parties to submit proposals to develop and operate the system on behalf of JPJ.
No injection of government expenditure will be made to cover the cost of the development and operation of the system, he said, adding that all costs will be fully borne by the interested parties.
Those who are keen can submit their proposals on business models for consideration, he said, adding that they can do so by visiting https://bit.lyRCVEPMsiaThailand and any questions can be emailed to [email protected] and [email protected].
-- BERNAMA
