Malaysia to fine Singaporeans without vehicle entry permits US$70 from July 1

Drivers of unregistered vehicles will not be allowed to leave Malaysia until they have completed the permit process and paid the fine

Malaysia will start issuing fines of around US$70 to owners of Singapore-registered vehicles without entry permits from July 1, as it seeks to regulate the entry of foreign vehicles at one of the world’s busiest land crossings in the southern Johor state.

Malaysia’s transport ministry introduced the vehicle entry permit (VEP) last October to match existing ones imposed by Singapore on foreign-registered vehicles crossing the Johor-Singapore Causeway.

However, the roll-out has been marred by complaints about slow processing, numerous delays and poor communication.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Wednesday acknowledged the issues, but added that Singaporean drivers had been given “ample time” to sort out their VEPs.

“To maintain road safety, the Malaysian government will proceed with full enforcement of the VEP requirement starting July 1,” Loke said in a statement. “From this date, summonses will be issued to foreign vehicle owners who have not registered or activated VEP.”

At least 100,000 vehicles cross the causeway daily, according to Singapore government data.

Weekday traffic comes mostly from Johor’s capital city of Johor Bahru as hundreds of thousands of Malaysians commute for work and study.

On weekends, the flow is reversed as Singaporeans flock across the causeway to stock up on groceries, get haircuts and even wash their cars, taking advantage of the favourable dollar to ringgit exchange rate.

Malaysia had so far taken a “soft approach” to enforcement, Loke said, handing reminder notices on the VEP requirement to Singapore drivers. No fines have been issued.

But from July, vehicles without VEPs or activated tags would not be allowed to leave Malaysia until their drivers had completed registration for the permit and paid a 300 ringgit (US$71) fine, Loke said.

Malaysian authorities have issued more than 230,000 VEP tags for Singapore-registered vehicles, mostly to privately owned vehicles. Over 36,500 have yet to be activated, however.

Motorcycles are not required to have VEPs at the moment, but the government plans to make the permits mandatory in the future.

Loke urged Singaporean drivers who had not sorted out their VEP to do so as soon as possible “to avoid any inconvenience when entering or leaving Malaysia in the future”.