PETALING JAYA: Better incentives, heightened inspections and better digital integration across agencies are key to addressing Malaysia’s growing number of inactive or abandoned vehicles, say experts.
Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Road Safety Research Centre head Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua said a more holistic approach was to encourage owners to remove “phantom” vehicles from the system.
“One such approach is for the Malaysian government to further enhance its vehicle deregistration and scrappage policies, and to roll out more incentives for vehicle owners to deregister vehicles that are no longer usable,” he said when contacted yesterday.
He also called for stricter periodic inspections, particularly for older vehicles, and greater digitalisation across agencies such as the Road Transport Department (JPJ), insurers, and enforcement bodies.
“Further enhancement of inter-agency digital integration can help to better monitor the status of vehicles,” he said, adding that public awareness campaigns were also needed to promote responsible ownership.
Law warned that the real concern was not expired road tax itself, but what it implied.
“If the road tax has not been paid for over half a decade, it signifies that the car has not had any insurance, and has not had any periodic inspections done,” he said, adding that some of these vehicles may still be on the road.
He cautioned that this could point to the existence of a “grey fleet” of technically illegal vehicles, a phenomenon that poses safety risks due to potential defects and lack of insurance coverage.
“The existence of unregistered or inactive vehicles can create a problem for the data and law enforcement.
“An inflated registry makes it harder for policymakers to accurately assess road usage, while enforcement efforts may be diverted towards tracking inactive vehicles instead of non-compliant ones that are still in circulation,” Law added.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) chief executive officer Dr T. Saravanan said the situation reflected a mix of economic, behavioural and systemic factors, with cost being a major reason for non-renewal of insurance coverage, among others.
“Cost remains a key factor, especially for lower-income groups who may prioritise daily essentials over vehicle-related expenses.
“Low scrap value and cumbersome deregistration processes also discouraged proper disposal,” Saravanan said.
He stressed that policies must balance enforcement with affordability to avoid unduly penalising vulnerable groups.
“Measures such as targeted assistance, flexible payment options or temporary amnesty programmes should be considered.
“At the same time, there must be clearer, simpler and low-cost pathways for voluntary deregistration,” he said.
Saravanan also called for stronger awareness campaigns and incentive-based approaches, including rebates and structured scrappage programmes to improve compliance.
“A major concern is that some of these vehicles are still being used on the road without valid road tax or insurance,” he said, warning that this exposes road users to significant risks in the event of accidents.
JPJ recently identified over 15 million vehicles, about 37% of all registered vehicles, with expired road tax of more than five years.
Many of these vehicles are believed to be abandoned or no longer in use, with motorcycles forming the majority.
