VEP can help drive out cloned cars, says JPJ

KUCHING: Cloned cars can be tackled more effectively when the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system is implemented in May, said Road Transport Department (JPJ) director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad.

At present, there are no records of vehicles coming from Singapore.

Under the VEP, all vehicles entering Malaysia from Singapore must be registered, enabling enforcement authorities to trace them.

“This will make it difficult for cloned cars to enter from Singapore and we will be able to control the problem better,” said Ismail at a press conference after launching a JPJ one-stop centre for new vehicle registration at NB Motors Trading Sdn Bhd here yesterday.

Cloned cars often involve scrap­ped vehicles from Singapore taking on the identity of a Malaysian-registered vehicle with cloned road tax discs and car grants.

Ismail said the VEP would also allow JPJ to detect foreign vehicles which had been summonsed for com­­mitting offences while in Malaysia.

“When the VEP is implemented, all vehicles with outstanding summons cannot leave the country until they have been settled,” he said.

Ismail added that JPJ was stepping up its operations against cloned car syndicates, including working closely with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“We have seized about 760 cloned cars so far in our ongoing operation but we believe there are more on the roads. We will issue summonses against the owners.

“If syndicates are involved, we will hand them over to MACC for further action,” he said.

Ismail advised consumers not to buy cloned vehicles as they posed safety issues, such as not having insurance coverage.

“I believe consumers know that such cars are cloned but they are attracted by the low prices. Don’t be taken in by the low prices,” he said.