JOHOR BARU, Oct 6 – Traffic flow between Johor and Singapore has reportedly normalised after an initial dip following the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) implementation, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said today.

The Star cited Loke saying that while the number of Singaporean vehicles entering Johor dropped slightly in the first two days, traffic levels have since returned to normal.

"I have been receiving reports on a daily basis on the number of cars coming in, and the number has already gone back to normal,” Loke said on the sidelines of the Johor DAP Convention here.

"Yes, there were some reductions on October 1 and 2. However, after I went down and gave my assurance on October 3, there was no more reduction.”

Loke also confirmed that no action will be taken yet against drivers who have not registered for the VEP, and further announcements on enforcement will be made later.

"For now, there will be no fines, only reminders for them to install their VEP as soon as possible,” he stated, emphasising that this decision was well-received by Singaporeans.

The transport minister assured that the first phase of the VEP implementation is focused on issuing reminders to vehicle owners, rather than enforcing penalties.

He added that no specific deadline will be set for full compliance, encouraging vehicle owners to avoid last-minute registrations.

Earlier this week, The Star also reported that inbound traffic from Singapore was down 20 per cent from normal daily volumes on the first day Malaysia is enforcing the VEP requirement on foreign-registered vehicles arriving from the republic.

Loke previously said that a total of 75,412 Singaporean motorists have activated their VEP RFID tags, while 37,246 have yet to activate their collected tags.

He urged Singaporean motorists to urgently apply and register for the VEP as it is mandatory for all foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia.

The VEP was first announced in 2017 as a measure to thwart car theft and vehicle cloning activities. It was also to prevent foreign vehicles with traffic offences from leaving the country without first settling their fines.

The VEP was delayed and was also postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.

In May, the Transport Ministry announced that all foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia by land from Singapore would be required to apply for the VEP starting October 1.

Since last month, many Singaporeans have rushed to apply for the VEP and collect the RFID device before the deadline. This has caused a huge backlog of applicants at the three designated VEP collection centres here.