Pay up, please: Singapore drivers with VEP will be notified of unpaid traffic summonses at Johor checkpoints

Before your next road trip up north, a check on your unpaid traffic fines in Malaysia would be advisable.

Vehicle owners who have signed up for Malaysia's Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) will be notified of their outstanding summonses at the two land checkpoints in Johor via variable message signage (VMS) displays.

In a report by Malaysian publication The Star, a Road Transport Department (JPJ) official said that this was a "good way" to have foreign-registered vehicle drivers pay up their unpaid summonses, before adding that JPJ have carried out regular checks at both checkpoints reminding foreign vehicles to register for the VEP.

Over 20,000 Singapore-registered vehicles have been checked, with a few hundred reminders issued out, the official added.

There are currently four VEP centres: three in Johor – Danga Bay, Iskandar Puteri and Paradigm Mall – and one in Woodlands.

On Oct 21, a photo showing a Johor checkpoint LED board with the vehicle's outstanding summons was posted on Facebook group Road.sg. 

The caption read: "Yes, the VEP registration for Singapore cars with the RFID tag indeed tracks your outstanding traffic summons."

This caused a heated discussion online, with some local netizens disgruntled at the thought of their Malaysian counterparts not having to face the same issue.

"So many Malaysian vehicles with outstanding summonses in Singapore," one Facebook user claimed, while another urged Singapore's Land Transport Authority to take similar measures on Malaysian-registered vehicles.

Others had no qualms about JPJ's actions, mentioning that it is a "good system".

Enforcement actions yet to begin

According to the Malaysian police, Singaporeans have racked up over 35,000 unpaid summonses, totalling RM3.5 million (S$1 million) between 1990 and June 2024.

No actions have been taken against the drivers so far and Singapore-registered vehicles with unpaid summonses are still allowed to enter and exit Malaysia until Dec 31. But from Jan 1, 2025, full enforcement actions will be implemented on Singapore motorists with outstanding traffic fines in Malaysia, JPJ told The Straits Times.

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amierul@asiaone.com