JOHOR BARU: The government has received more than 58,700 applications for the vehicle entry permit (VEP) in the span of two months, says Anthony Loke.
The Transport Minister said there was a surge of applications after he announced on May 28 that the VEP would be enforced on Oct 1.
“From May 28 until July 31, we received a total of 58,791 applications made through the portal and physical counters. We noticed some duplicate applications as well.
“We received more applications in the past two months than the past two years.
“Out of the total, 19,640 applications were completed with the VEP tags collected or posted to the applicants,” he said after visiting the VEP collection centre at Danga Bay here on Thursday (Aug 1).
Loke said from the total applications, some 40% or 24,104 applications were incomplete, leading to a delay in the approval process.
“This means they did not submitted the required documents such as the car owner’s insurance certificate, vehicle certificate of entitlement and owner’s identification card.
“The application cannot be processed if the supporting documents are inadequate,” he added.
He said many Singaporeans preferred visiting the VEP collection centre in person after pre-registering to complete the application process.
At the centre, the applicant would be able to collect their VEP radio frequency identification card (RFID) tag upon their successful application, and have it fitted on their car by the vendor’s staff, said Loke.
He added that vehicle owners only need to pay RM10 for the RFID tag, which lasts for five years, and RM29.50 service charge.
“With two months to go until the implementation date, we expect to receive another 50,000 applications from Singapore vehicle owners.
“I have also asked the vendor to add manpower and extend its operating hours to cater to the demand,” he said, adding that he welcomed Singaporeans to apply for the VEP and the government would try its best to facilitate the process.
From Oct 1, anyone driving a foreign-registered motor vehicle without a VEP can be fined up to RM2,000 or imprisoned for up to six months upon conviction.
Loke said an estimated 18,000 Singaporean vehicles cross the Causeway into Malaysia daily, making it one of the busiest land border crossings in the world.
Upon implementation of the VEP, Singapore vehicles would be scanned upon entry and exit, and continue paying the existing Road Charge of RM20 per entry.
At present, the Singapore government enforces VEP for Malaysian-registered vehicles as well.
