For as long as we can remember, every Malaysian must acquire and display their motor vehicle licenses or road tax stickers on their vehicles. While acquiring one isn’t much of an issue, many have complained about the quality of the road tax stickers.
Back in December, Malaysians urged Transport Minister Anthony Loke to revise how the quality of the stickers can be improved after a Twitter post went viral. It looks like the issue has been brought to the minister’s attention as he recently made some big announcements.
During a press conference earlier this morning (Friday, 10th February), Anthony Loke stated that starting today, Malaysians will no longer have to display their motor vehicle licenses, commonly referred to as road tax, on the private vehicles they owned. Previously, according to Section 20 of the Road Transport Act, road tax must be stuck and displayed on vehicles.
The politician said that this will no longer be enforced and that this is an effort by the Ministry to digitise the road transport department’s (JPJ) services. He also elaborated on how the plan would be carried out saying, “This will be done in stages, with the first phase involving individual private vehicles, including motorcycles, owned by Malaysians.”
During the press conference, it was revealed that certain vehicle categories must still display their motor vehicle licences during the first phase, including those owned by private firms, foreigners, commercial vehicles as well as public service vehicles. As for the digitisation process, the Pakatan Harapan member said that Malaysians can access their digital motor vehicle and driving licences by signing up for a JPJ account online.
In regards to concerns on whether or not this decision will work, Anthony said that the ministry will take JPJ’s systems readiness and public response into consideration before moving forward to the other phases and categories.
The Transport Minister ended the conference by reminding that “action will continue to be taken against anyone found driving a vehicle without a valid motor vehicle or driving licence, in line with the Road Transport Act.”
In other news, the Ministry of Transport also recently announced that both the KL International airports will soon be rebranded.
