PUTRAJAYA: A backlog of 17,000 Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) applications, which are pending approval, is expected to be resolved in the next few weeks.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the backlog was due to the increasing number of applications.
This followed his announcement in May that the VEP would be enforced from Oct 1, this year.
He said a total of 23,649 applications were submitted from May 28 until June 29, a duration of just one month.
"This exceeded the total number of applications of 15,424 for the entire year of 2023.
"Meanwhile, around 6,120 VEP tags have been issued while 1,080 VEP tags have been activated," he said at a press conference held at his office today.
Loke said VEP applications could now be done online even without an existing tag.
A notification will be sent three times for the expiry of the driver's permit.
"Three reminder notifications will be sent to VEP holders within 60, 30 and 10 days before their permit expires," he said.
He added that the staff assigned to the emails related to VEP applications had been increased from five to 10 people, while the staff at the VEP collection centre in Johor Baru has been increased from seven to 12.
Loke said an Open Toll Payment System (OPS), an alternative payment method on highways besides Touch 'n Go, will begin from Aug 1 onwards.
"The OPS system allows vehicle owners to pay their toll fee using debit or credit cards. This is especially for Singapore-registered car owners who do not have to use Touch 'n Go anymore.
"Users are required to download the Malaysian Digital Services application from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store," he said.
He added that the fee for a Vehicle Ownership Certificate (VOC) has been reduced from RM50 to RM20 in Peninsular Malaysia effective from Monday (July 1) and the fee for the VOC in Sabah was reduced from RM25 to RM20 while it remains the same for Sarawak.
Loke said following this, 145,000 vehicles were estimated to cross the Johor Causeway to Singapore making it one of the busiest land border crossings in the world.
Previously, Loke had said Malaysia would enforce the VEP for all foreign registered vehicles entering from Singapore beginning Oct 1.
He clarified that this regulation would apply to entry points at both the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) complex at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) in Tambak, Johor and the CIQ Complex at the Sultan Abu Bakar building at the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link.
Loke said this would ensure foreign vehicle owners fully complied with Malaysian road regulations.
He warned that foreign motor vehicles without VEP before entering or while in Malaysia would be committing an offence under Section 66H (7) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
He added that from Oct 1, any foreign vehicle driven without a VEP risked a fine of up to RM2,000 or imprisonment of up to six months upon conviction as stipulated in Section 119 (2) of Act 333.