Online driving licence fee reduced to RM20 next year, says Loke

Anthony Loke. -filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: The cost of an online driving licence test will be lowered to RM20 by Jan 1 next year, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke (pic).

Loke said the current cost of RM27 for the test will be reduced by RM7, following a decision to liberalise the present system monopolised by three companies.

"We have decided to open up the online driving test to all driving institutes ranked three stars and above who fulfil the requirements needed," he said at a press conference after visiting the JPJ Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur office here on Tuesday (Oct 2).

At present, Loke said that 103 examination centres under the e-services through MyEG, KOMMS and Myspeed are offering the online driving test.

There are currently about 150 driving institutes of three star ranking and above, based on a 2017 survey.

Loke said that the new policy would not affect the 103 examination centres under MyEG, KOMMS and Myspeed.

"Under this new system, we expect to see some 200 examination centres set up nationwide, which will make the online driving test more accessible to the public," he added.

Loke also announced that the JPJ is currently studying a proposal to merge car and motorcycle driving tests.

He said an announcement will be made, once a decision is reached following the study.

On a separate issue, Loke said he was disappointed that only a few illegal driving licence holders had come forward to surrender their licences to the Integrity Unit of the state Road Transport Department (JPJ) before the Oct 13 deadline to do so.

He assured that no punitive action would be taken against those who come forward to surrender their illegal licences.

A total of 14,000 illegal driving licence holders throughout the country were given one month from Sept 13 to surrender their licences at any state JPJ Integrity Unit, or faced being tracked down by the authorities.

Information on illegal driving licences was exposed, after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) began making arrests since Sept 4.

Some 12 JPJ officers and employees were detained in the operations.

Earlier, Loke presented a certificate of appreciation to JPJ officer Nurul Fatihah Shamsudin Shah, 27, who helped a deaf and mute woman resolve a problem at the JPJ office here.

A 90-second video recording of Nurul Fatihah using sign language to help the woman lodge a report against a driving institute went viral recently on social media.