Golden chance: Loke (centre) together with (from left) Road Transport Department director-general Datuk Rospiagos Taha and department deputy director-general (planning and operations) Aedy Fadly Ramli at the press conference in Putrajaya. — SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star
PUTRAJAYA: Here’s a golden opportunity for motorists – a new number plate series with the prefix GOLD will be available in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Kuala Lumpur being declared as a Federal Territory.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the bidding for the “GOLD” series will begin at 12.01am tomorrow until 10pm on Feb 5. The results will be announced on Feb 6.
The “GOLD” number plate series was meant to represent the golden jubilee celebration of FT Day, explained Loke.
“The bidding process will be done through the JPJeBid system,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Minimum bids for “golden” or single digit numbers will be RM20,000. Bids for “attractive” numbers will start at RM3,000, followed by popular numbers (RM800) and running numbers (RM300).
“Successful bidders will have to register the numbers to cars within 12 months from when bidding results are announced,” Loke said.
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He said the highest revenue generated from special numbers plates so far was from the “FF” series, which raked in RM35mil.
“Hopefully we can get a higher revenue from the ‘GOLD’ series,” Loke said, adding that a portion of proceeds from the sale will be used by the ministry to aid the public.
Among the first initiatives would be paying Social Security Organisation (Socso) contributions for taxi drivers.
“This will provides a safety net for taxi drivers. We know that taxi drivers are generally seniors with some also being army veterans.
“By providing Socso contributions, they can be protected in case of any incidents,” he said, adding that some 40,000 taxi drivers would be receiving Socso contributions.
Separately, Loke said 6,369 passengers benefited from the capping of the price of flight tickets from the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak at RM599 during Christmas in December.
He said some RM2.7mil was spent to subsidise the flight tickets, with the average subsidy for each ticket being RM429.
“This same initiative will be carried out for the coming Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations in April,” he said.
On free commuter rides offered by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) on Jan 24 and Jan 25 in conjunction with Thaipusam, Loke said 300,325 passengers used the service.
“I understand there were some challenges in the night before Thaipusam which affected train frequencies.
“We will work on improving our services for the coming years,” Loke said.
