The Ministry of Transport (MOT) will match in some form Malaysia’s road charge of RM20 (S$6.60) at the two land entry points in Johor – the Causeway and Second Link. The new levy came into effect on Tuesday (Nov 1).
In a statement, MOT said Malaysia’s road charge “is discriminatory against Singapore-registered vehicles as it is only applied at the Singapore checkpoints”.
The ministry added that it will announce details in due course.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport had announced on Oct 28 that foreign private-registered vehicles entering Johor will have to pay the road charge, which will be collected each time motorists enter Malaysia via Touch n’ Go cards.
After getting their passports stamped, drivers will now have to tap their cards twice, at two different terminals – one for the road charge and the other for the checkpoint toll.
Motorcycles are excluded from the road charge.
Malaysia’s Transport Ministry made it clear last week that the road charge is different from the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP).
Singapore’s MOT had responded in a statement to say it has “noted” Malaysia’s plans, and will match the road charge in some form if it discriminates against Singapore-registered vehicles.
The next day, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that the Malaysian government is not discriminating against Singapore cars in the implementation of the road charge.
“There is no discrimination. We will impose the road charge not only at our border with Singapore, but also our borders with Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia,” he said, according to Bernama news agency.
An average of 20,000 Singapore-registered vehicles enter Malaysia daily via the Causeway and the Second Link.
Singapore currently imposes a S$35 Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) fee on foreign-registered cars entering the city-state, although each vehicle is given 10 free days a year and there are no charges during the weekends. Cars entering Singapore between 5pm and 2am from Monday to Friday are also exempt from VEP.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia
