Malaysia to postpone implementation of VEP due to issues that need to be fixed

Malaysia’s Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai announced that the implementation of the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP), which was supposed to start next month, has been postponed to resolve issues related to vehicle entry requirements at both the Singapore and Thai border.

He stated that the regulations that will be imposed on foreign-registered vehicles under the VEP, have issues that needs to be fixed before the VEP can take effect.

The New Straits Times quoted Mr Liow saying after a meet-the-people’s event with the MCA president in Paloh, “Currently, Malaysia is only imposing a RM20 (S$6.61) Road Charge (RC) on foreign-registered vehicles from Singapore, entering through the southern land entry points,”

“We still need more time to standardise regulations that are related to the entry of foreign vehicles entering the country from Singapore and Thailand before the VEP can be implemented,” he added.

“Once the standardisation of regulations are finalised, Malaysia will impose the RM20 Road Charge at the country’s entry point in Thailand simultaneously with the implementation of the VEP,” Mr Liow ended.

The minister earlier stated that the VEP will be valid for five years and vehicle owners will receive a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to be placed on the windshields of their vehicles.

“The VEP will help us to identify the number of foreign vehicles entering Malaysia and also to prevent car theft and car cloning syndicates,” he said.

Mr Liow also said that a separate RM20 Road Charge, which is currently imposed on vehicles entering the country from Singapore, will also apply to the northern border with Thailand either by the end of this year or early next year. The charges will be imposed on cars entering from Brunei and Indonesia at a “later stage”.

The Road Charge was implemented at the Johor Causeway and the Second Link Crossing in Tanjung Kupang, Gelang Patah in November 2016.