@LiowTiongLai : RM 20 charge for all foreign cars entering Malaysia via Johor

The government of Malaysia, via the Transport Ministry has finally come to a decision where beginning 1st November 2016, all foreign private-registered vehicles entering Malaysia via Johor will be subjected to RM20 Road Charge (“RC”). The RC will be collected each time motorists enter Malaysia via the Touch n’ Go Card. This was confirmed by Minister of Transport Malaysia, Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai. 

In our opinion, the RC is at a fair value and is required since the maintenance of our roads is paid by the tax payers and when someone other than the locals are using the road, they would also need to contribute to the maintenance fee. We can't allow foreigners to use our roads for free (especially not-tolled roads) and not contributing anything back to the country or its maintenance fund.

Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai has also confirmed that The RC system has been activated at the two land entry points in Johor – the Causeway and the Second Link. Initial collection exercise will only involve foreign private-registered vehicles excluding foreign registered motorcycles. This shows that the government of Malaysia is considerate enough to waive the RC for motorcycles as this is mainly a mode of transport for the low income groups and not to burden them too much on the RC.

We at KLChronicle also took note of the initiatives done by the Transport Ministry to introduce the Vehicle Entry Permit (“VEP”) to ensure smooth entry to Malaysia once the VEP is implemented. This VEP is crucial to ensure better and smooth border controls and monitoring to ensure no illegal activities is being carried out at our borders especially bringing in contraband such as drugs into the country. 

Finally, we believe that the introduction of RC and VEP is a good initiative by the government in ensuring we move together with time to monitor and better control our borders plus improve the condition of our roads. Once the VEP is being introduced in the northern part of the country, it is hoped that the illegal smuggling activities and human trafficking in Perlis and Thailand can be curb effectively. 

Congratulations to the Transport Minister for having the vision and courage to implement these new systems although they are not popular with foreign tourist. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made to safeguard our interest as a country since security is paramount in this current climate. Keep up the good work Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai. 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, 28 October 2016

PRESS STATEMENT BY

YB DATO’ SRI LIOW TIONG LAI

MINISTER OF TRANSPORT MALAYSIA

Liow: Road Charge at Johor entry points to commence 1st November 2016

Beginning 1st November 2016, all foreign private-registered vehicles entering Malaysia via Johor will be subjected to RM20 Road Charge (“RC”). The RC will be collected each time motorists enter Malaysia via the Touch n’ Go Card.

The RC system has been activated at the two land entry points in Johor – the Causeway and the Second Link. Initial collection exercise will only involve foreign private-registered vehicles excluding foreign registered motorcycles.

Nevertheless, all foreign-registered vehicles are encouraged to register their vehicle information under the Vehicle Entry Permit (“VEP”) to ensure smooth entry to Malaysia once the VEP is implemented.

Not to be confused with RC, the VEP is an automated vehicle registration system and is part of the ongoing efforts by the Government of Malaysia to improve border control and monitoring, as well as comprehensive collection of entry point data that can be used for strategic planning, management and efficient enforcement purposes.

While the implementation of RC and eventually VEP will only involve foreign private-registered vehicles at the two entry points in Johor initially, this exercise will be extended throughout the 12 entrances to Malaysia in stages.

The Ministry will provide updates and announcement on the implementation date for VEP will be made closer to the date.

[END]