Singapore VEP users with unpaid fines will be notified at land checkpoints

SINGAPORE: If you’ve signed up for Malaysia’s Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) and have outstanding fines, you’ll be informed about it at the two land checkpoints at Johor Bahru.

An official quoted in Malaysia’s The Star said, “So far, this is a good way to get foreign-registered vehicle drivers to pay up for outstanding summonses which are in the hundreds of thousands of ringgit over the years.”

In August, officials said that Singaporean drivers top the list of foreign offenders with unpaid outstanding traffic summonses in Malaysia, followed by drivers from Brunei and Thailand.

Read related: Singaporeans owe Malaysia over S$1M in traffic fines; tops list as the biggest foreign traffic offender

Singaporean offenders owe the Malaysian authorities an estimated RM3.5 million, or around S$1,041,970, though running after offenders have been challenging.

But now, it’s likely easier to track vehicles registered in Singapore, according to Mothership, since these will have RFID (radio frequency identification) tags.

VEP users will now be reminded of their outstanding Road Transport Department (JPJ), and police summonses through variable message signage (VMS) displays at the land checkpoints.

The JPJ has been reminding foreign-owned vehicles to register for the VEP. Among the 20,000 Singapore vehicles the authorities have checked, “a few hundred” reminders have been sent to their owners.

Foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia have been required to carry Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) tags since Oct 1, but securing the tag has not been easy for some.

The Star reported that over 150,000 vehicle owners have thus far registered for VEPs, and officials have received around 1,000 VEP applications daily.

While vehicles registered in Singapore can still come into Johor without the tag, their owners who have not applied for it will be given a warning.

Those who want to obtain a VEP tag may do so at Woodlands or at one of three VEP centres in Johor: Danga Bay, Iskandar Puteri, and Skudai.

The Star quoted a member of the Singapore National Private Hire Vehicle Association (NPHVA) as saying that he hopes one more venue will be opened in Singapore for applying and installing the tags by TCSens, the private vendor appointed by JPJ to handle the VEPs.

He added that there are workshops charge fees between S$100 and S$150 to help people get their VEPs. /TISG

Read also: “I got my VEP, and it was easy!” — Technopreneur Loo Cheng Chuan shares how he did it, saying the process is “very efficient” and “quite cool”