JOHOR BARU, Oct 3 — More than 75,000 Singaporean motorists have successfully activated their Vehicle Entry Permit’s (VEP) radio frequency identification device (RFID) tags, ahead of the phased enforcement inspections at Johor’s two land border crossings.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that as of yesterday, 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.
Loke also warned that the Road Transport Department’s (JPJ) will implement a phased enforcement operation on Singaporean motorists who enter Malaysia without the VEP tags.
“I hope that Singaporean motorists who are entering Johor Baru understand that the VEP’s implementation here has been announced months ago, however we are taking a gradual approach in terms of the enforcement.
“The ministry’s aim is not to penalise foreign-registered vehicles without VEP, but to enforce the system that came into effect on October 1,” he told reporters at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex here today.
Loke had earlier observed Malaysian officials conducting checks on foreign-registered vehicles entering the country from Singapore. He was accompanied by Transport secretary-general Datuk Jana Santhiran Muniayan and JPJ director-general Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli.
As of today, JPJ has issued 50 reminders to Singaporean motorists who entered the country without the VEP tag.
Since Tuesday, a total of 678 cars have been inspected by JPJ officers at both BSI here and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex at the Second Link crossing in Iskandar Puteri.
It was previously reported that foreign motorists who failed to install the VEP RFID tags may be fined up to RM2,000 or jailed for up to six months.
Loke also assured Singaporean motorists who have already applied for the VEP that action will not be taken on them by JPJ enforcement officers.
He said the enforcement team are aware on who has applied for the VEP as the database will be shown on the gadgets.
“For those who have applied, we will not issue you any warning notice or reminders,” he said, adding that warning notices will only be issued to Singaporean vehicle owners who have yet to apply for the VEP.
As of last week, JPJ indicated that only 62,635 Singaporean vehicles had activated their VEP’s RFID tags, with around 130,000 more expected to be issued in the coming weeks - 90,000 of which have already been registered.
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.
