Aiming to do better: Loke (centre) receiving a warm welcome from Puspakom officers and the public during his visit to the inspection centre, engaging with staff and vehicle owners to discuss service improvements. — LOW BOON TAT/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Plans to address long waits at Puspakom inspection centres will be put in place, including doing away with mandatory non-safety-related inspection items and banning multiple-slot appointment bookings.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said five items will soon fall under a self-declaration system for vehicles undergoing inspections at Puspakom.
The items are vehicle body lettering, speed signs, a first aid kit, a vehicle registration number and the condition of passenger seats in public service vehicles.
He said the self-declaration move, effective March 17, aims to allow faster inspections at Puspakom centres.
“A lot of vehicle owners have been complaining that inspections at Puspakom were taking too long; there were long queues too.
“This longer duration was mainly due to backlogged appointments.
“This decision (self-declaration) was made by the Transport Ministry and Road Transport Department to address these concerns,” he told reporters when visiting the Wangsa Maju Puspakom Centre here yesterday.
However, Loke said enforcement authorities would still carry out inspections of these items to ensure continued compliance.
He added that Puspakom would also take several measures to expedite its operations, which include removing multiple-slot bookings for inspection appointments with the same vehicle registration number.
Flashback :The cover of The Star on March 8, 2025.
“Puspakom will also improve the booking system by freezing the original inspection slot if it is rescheduled to another date.
“This measure is taken to prevent the original slot from being misused or sold to other parties,” he said.
Loke also said all inspection centres would be operating for 12 hours a day throughout March on top of operating on Saturdays, excluding centres in Langkawi, Kedah and Pekan, Pahang.
He added his ministry has held discussions with the Works Ministry and the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to consider granting exemptions to heavy vehicles that are required to undergo inspections at Puspakom.
“The vehicles must submit proof of the Puspakom inspection booking slip to the relevant enforcement authorities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Loke also said the ministry has extended the commercial vehicle inspection period to 30 days before the Motor Vehicle Licence (MVL) expiry, up from 14 days previously, to reduce congestion at inspection centres.
He said the measure, effective March 17, is intended to help vehicle owners better plan their inspection schedules and secure booking slots at Puspakom.
