M’sia’s Transport Minister: VEP Will Be Postponed To 2020 Due To ‘Technical Issues’

For Singaporeans who travel to Johor or Malaysia in general on the regular for cheap food, groceries and all things in between, here’s a piece of ‘good’ news:

The Transport Minister of Malaysia, Anthony Loke has announced that the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) scheme will only take into effect in 2020.

He announced this on 9 October, at a news conference. If you’re wondering, exactly when, there has been no confirmation on the date.

I’m not sure that’s a good or bad thing, but if we’re being realistic, I don’t think it makes much of a difference when it’ll take into effect because it’s basically delaying the inevitable.

Unless of course, the whole VEP thing gets scrapped altogether.

Technical Issues

If you haven’t a clue as to what’s going on: the VEP was supposed to take effect on 1 October 2019. However, the VEP system wasn’t enforced on the scheduled date.

Cars were allowed to enter and exit Malaysia without a hitch.

Cue more confusion.

Later, on 23 September, it was announced that VEP would not be enforced during peak hours.

According to The Straits Times, Loke said that some ‘technical issues’ have caused the implementation of the VEP to be postponed.

For starters, the VEP system could not cope with the sheer number of cars and vehicles that were supposed to install the radio frequency identification tags (RFID).

So how now brown cow?

Well, Loke said that a shiny new system is currently underway so it’ll be easier for all vehicles to install the RFID.

When Will VEP Be Implemented?

Amidst all the confusion, one thing is clear. The VEP will not be implemented this year, according to Loke.

The VEP will take into effect in 2020 so that it’s “fair to all the Singaporean vehicle owners” as they’ll have sufficient time to get their affairs in order before VEP is implemented.

What Is A VEP?

And if your name happens to be Patrick Star and/or you live under a rock, the VEP was first announced way back in 2017.

It declared that foreign-registered vehicles that enter Malaysia will need a VEP.

The rules are pretty strict too, because vehicles without VEP can still enter Malaysia but will be forced to pay a fine.

Ah yes, looks like Malaysia is taking a page from their neighbour, our fine city.

But it’s not all about making life harder for Singaporeans, because the VEP has a noble cause.

Its purpose was to discourage car theft, tackle car-cloning syndicates and to prevent vehicles with outstanding fines from leaving Malaysia.

The VEP must be renewed after five years.