VEP fee to be imposed on Singapore vehicles from Oct 1

An aerial view of the Causeway

GELANG PATAH: Foreign private vehicles entering Malaysia from Singapore will be required to pay an RM20 fee from Oct 1.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the RM20 Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) fee for foreign vehicles would begin on Oct 1, instead of Sept 1, as previously announced.

He said payment was only by Touch 'n Go card and that the VEP would be on imposed on private passenger vehicles, including multi-purpose and sports utilities vehicles.

He added that from Sept 1, Singapore vehicles which aren’t registered with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) would be refused entry into Malaysia.

Abdul Aziz said the mandatory registration applied for all private vehicles, public buses, taxis, goods vehicles as well as diplomatic cars.

He said the online registration would start on Aug 15, and vehicle owners are required to pay RM10 for the road charge (RC), which is valid for five years.

On the VEP, Abdul Aziz said government vehicles, motorcycles, public buses and taxis would be exempted from the fee but that they still had to be registered with JPJ.

Speaking to The Star later, Abdul Aziz said the VEP system would have a second phase covering the Malaysia-Thailand border, and that the government hoped for a mid-2016 roll-out.

He added that the VEP fee would likely be the same.

"We have to have standard procedure," he said.

On Aug 1, last year, Singapore increased the VEP for foreign vehicles entering the republic from S$20 (RM55.70) to S$35 (RM97.50) daily.

The republic also raised the Goods Vehicle Permit from S$10 (RM27.80) to S$40 (RM111.50).