Foreign private-registered vehicles entering Malaysia via Johor will be subjected to an RM20 (S$6.60) charge from Nov 1, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced on Friday (Oct 28).
The road charge (RC) will be collected each time motorists enter Malaysia via Touch n’ Go cards, according to the statement. The RC system has been activated at the two land entry points in Johor – the Causeway and the Second Link – and will be extended to the 10 other entrances into the country in stages.
“Initial collection exercise will only involve foreign private-registered vehicles excluding foreign registered motorcycles,” MOT added.
The ministry said the RC is not to be confused with the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP).
It described the VEP, which requires foreign vehicles entering Malaysia to be registered via an online portal for an RFID tag costing RM10, as “part of ongoing efforts by the Government of Malaysia to improve border control and monitoring”.
The VEP tracking system is not yet in force, but MOT said the vehicles should go through the registration as required “nevertheless” to ensure “smooth entry” once it is implemented. The VEP will also initially only apply to the two entry points, before being introduced at others.
On Friday evening, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport issued a statement to say that it has “noted” Malaysia’s plans. “If it discriminates against Singapore-registered vehicles, we will match it in some form,” said a spokesperson.
At the moment, Singapore imposes a S$35 VEP fee on foreign cars entering the island, though each vehicle is given 10 free days per year and there are no charges during the weekends. VEP is also exempt on cars entering Singapore between 5pm and 2am from Monday to Friday.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia
