singapore road

The Singaporean Ministry of Transport (MOT) has called out Malaysia's vehicle entry permit (VEP) fee of RM20 for foreign-registered vehicles entering the republic as an unsatisfactory move - even going as far as to say that the implementation "discriminates Singapore vehicles," as reported by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).

According to the news agency, Singapore's MOT "will consider matching the levy in some form after studying its implementation." Aside from that, the MOT is also in the midst of requesting more info from local authorities surrounding the requirements for Singaporean vehicles to be registered prior to entry.

Recently, Deputy Transport Minister, Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, announced that foreign vehicles will need to be registered under the Road Charges (RC) with the JPJ before September 1 in order to enter Malaysia. Drivers will be required to pay RM10 for the RC, which is valid for five years.

An MOT spokesperson has been quoted by the news agency as stating that "such costs and inconveniences could discourage Singaporeans from going to Malaysia, in particular Johor, for leisure purposes such as shopping, entertainment, sight-seeing and holidays."

In August last year, the Singaporean authorities moved to increase the VEP fee for foreign-registered vehicles entering the country to S$35 (RM97.82) per day. Meanwhile, a similar move is said to be in the works to cover the Malaysia-Thailand border with a proposed mid-2016 roll-out date - said VEP fee is likely to cost RM20, as well.