KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — The government has always encouraged the use of vehicles using green technology by promoting various initiatives including a 50 per cent reduction in road tax for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar said.

"The Ministry has also set up a special body named "Vehicle Type Approval” which is to identify and approve green technology vehicles especially lorries and buses, to reduce the use of CO2-emitting vehicles.

He was responding to a supplementary question by Senator Yaakob Sapari who wanted to know the measures taken by the government to encourage the use of green technology vehicles.

In reply to a question by Senator Datuk Seri Khairuddin Samad on the number of vehicles registered with the Transport Ministry, Kamaruddin said a total of 5,403 electric cars and 46,981 plug-in hybrid vehicles were registered as at March 31 this year.

"Of the total, Selangor recorded the highest number of registered electric cars at 2,791, while Federal Territory recorded the highest number of hybrid cars at 25,360,” he said. — Bernama