Malaysia halts enforcement of VEP at Johor checkpoints

Malaysia has halted the enforcement of its Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) at the two Johor checkpoints, the Ministry of Transport said on 1 October, following several teething problems last week.

"VEP is suspended now for both peak and non-peak hours," a ministry spokesman told The Straits Times.

The ministry did not say if, or when, the VEP enforcement would be started. Malaysia's VEP enforcement was scheduled to begin on 1 October, with the scheme conducted only during non-peak hours.

This followed its announcement on 23 September that it had to defer the enforcement during 'peak-hour traffic operations' until further notice.

It had then cited 'several issues', including difficulties in obtaining appointments for the installation of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

The ministry had previously urged all foreign vehicle owners to register online at https://vep.jpj.gov.my in order to obtain the RFID tag. Once registered, the owner would then receive an e-mail to schedule an appointment for the installation of the VEP-RFID tag.

Owners are required to bring along their vehicles and documents such as the VEP confirmation slip, VEP-RFID tag appointment slip, a passport photocopy, a copy of the latest insurance cover note and the vehicle registration document issued by the Land Transport Authority.

The VEP, renewable every five years, was first announced in 2017 by the then ruling Barisan Nasional government to determine the number of foreign vehicles entering Malaysia, and also to prevent car theft and deter car cloning syndicates.

In April, the Malaysian government announced that it would enforce mandatory registration for foreign vehicles entering from Singapore starting from 1 October 2019. Only VEP-registered vehicles would be allowed entry into Malaysia once the permit was implemented, it said.