Malaysia’s upcoming RM20 (S$7.16) entry fee for foreign-registered vehicles travelling through Johor, “discriminates against Singapore vehicles”, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Tuesday (Aug 4).
The fee kicks in on Oct 1 and the ministry said Singapore will consider matching the levy in some form after studying its implementation.
MOT also said it is requesting more information from Malaysian authorities on their new requirement for Singapore vehicles to pre-register before entering Malaysia. Over the weekend, Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi was quoted by The Star as saying “from Sep 1, Singapore vehicles which are not registered with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) would be refused entry into Malaysia”.
Online registration starts on Aug 15 and the road charge costs RM10 (S$3.60) for five years. The rules apply to all private vehicles, public buses, taxis, goods vehicles as well as diplomatic cars.
An MOT spokesperson said “such costs and inconveniences could discourage Singaporeans from going to Malaysia, in particular Johor, for leisure purposes such as shopping, entertainment, sight-seeing, holiday”.
Last August, Singapore had raised its vehicle entry permit charges for foreign-registered cars from S$20 to S$35 per day, while the Goods Vehicle Permit fee for foreign-registered goods vehicles was raised from S$10 to S$40 per calendar month. In that month, Malaysia announced a 400 per cent increase in toll charges to RM6.80 (S$2.65), RM10.20, RM13.60, RM3.40 and RM5.50 for Class 1 to Class 5 vehicles, respectively.
In response, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority increased toll charges for all vehicles, except motorcycles, leaving Singapore through the Causeway from Oct 2014.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
