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Singapore-registered vehicles entering Malaysia from 1-7 April will be exempted from road charge payments

Singapore-registered vehicles entering Malaysia from 1-7 April will be exempted from road charge payments

This exemption is intended to prevent congestion at both the land border entrances of Malaysia and Singapore (when there is no sufficient balance or no valid Touch 'n Go card), Malaysia's Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said.

With the Malaysia-Singapore land borders fully reopening from 1 April 2022 after two years of closure, Malaysia's Ministry of Transport will be waiving the road charge (RC) payments imposed on all relevant Singapore-registered vehicles entering Malaysia, for a period of seven days.

In specific, this waiver will apply from 1 April 2022 to 7 April 2022. 

In a statement announcing this on Monday (28 March), Minister for Transport Wee Ka Siong said this decision was made seeing that as a result of the closure, Singaporeans would currently be unable to enter Malaysia to top up their Touch 'n Go cards for use at the toll highways, which would not be expired.

Thus, on the exemption period, the minister said: "This exemption is intended to prevent congestion at both the land border entrances of Malaysia and Singapore (at Sultan Iskandar Building and Sultan Abu Bakar Complex) when there is no sufficient balance or no valid Touch 'n Go card.

"This time period should be used by all Singapore registered travelers/drivers to either (i) renew/obtain a Touch 'n Go card, (ii) top up the card, or (iii) register and install RFID VEP tags on their vehicles."

Minister Wee added that any Singapore-registered vehicle that is already registered and fitted with a VEP RFID tag will also be exempted from RC payment within the same period, under the provisions of section 88E, Act 333.

However, all travellers are reminded that the RC charge will be re-enforced from 8 April.

In similar updates, the minister has also shared that all types of public services operating between Singapore and Malaysia, including stop-and-go buses, express buses, tour buses, employee buses, and cross-border taxis will be able to fully resume operations from 1  April. 

With this, all public transport vehicle service operators in both countries can now prepare the necessary documentation/procedures, including renewing all relevant permits or licences, either with the Road Transport Department, Land Public Transport Agency, or with the authorities in Singapore.

However, the minister added, the provision or commencement of actual services is subject to the willingness of the operators involved to resume their operations to the public. The public can obtain more information from the relevant operators on the operational status of cross-border services that will be provided.

The minister also reminded all cross-border public service vehicle operators to comply with all existing health guidelines, including the provision of QR codes for passengers, and ensuring all passengers scan them for tracking purposes. However, in line with current regulations, the operator does not need to make any inspection before allowing passengers to board the vehicle, to check the vaccination status of passengers.

Operators or drivers may refuse to provide services to any traveller who does not comply with current health standard operating procedures, such as the wearing of face masks.

"It is the responsibility of the traveller to ensure that they have a valid MySejahtera application on their smartphone and meet all the travel conditions that have been set. Failure to do so will result in action being taken against the traveller, including compound action or penalties under applicable existing laws," Minister Wee said.

ALSO READ: FAQs about Malaysia-Singapore land borders’ vaccinated travel effective 1 April 2022


Photo / 123RF

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