PUTRAJAYA: Starting today (Feb 10), private vehicle owners will no longer need to display their Malaysian vehicle licence (commonly known as road tax) on the windscreen or carry a physical copy of their driving licence.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said this was because the two will be made available in a digital version via the Road Transport Department (RTD) public portal (https://public.jpj.gov.my) or mobile application MyJPJ which can be downloaded from the App Store, Play Store or Huawei App Gallery.
He said the move was part of the ministry's efforts to digitise services offered by the RTD.
"I have received various responses from the public over road tax and we at the ministry have been trying to find solutions to ease the difficulties of the public through digitisation.
"As such, starting today, private vehicle owners who are Malaysians can use the digital LKM (e-LKM) and digital LMM (e-LMM) display mode through the RTD public portal or MyJPJ mobile application," he told a press conference at his ministry today.
Loke said through digitisation, the RTD and police will be provided with devices to carry out inspections or checks on the status of the licences.
"The enforcement officers will scan the QR code on the digital driver's licence and road tax. It also can verify whether the digital driver's licence and road tax are genuine or otherwise, as well as its validity."
He said with the move a total of RM96 million could be saved yearly, which was previously for the printing of the road tax and driving licence.
"The amount can be better channelled to improve the application and other needs," he said, adding that the digitisation move had received full support from the Finance Ministry and did not require additional allocation.
Present was his deputy Datuk Hasbi Habibollah, the ministry's secretary-general Datuk Jana Santhiran Muniayan, RTD director-general Datuk Zailani Hashim and Federal police Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department director Datuk Mat Kasim Karim.
He said in line with the initiative, the provision under Section 20 of the Act Road Transport 1987 (Act 333) where "every road tax shall be displayed on the vehicle", will no longer be enforced for the category of owners under the first phase of the initiative.
He said the exception will be gazetted under the authority given to the transport minister under Section 127 (1) (b) of the Act. Loke said the initiative will be implemented in stages, with the first phase involving individual private vehicles, including motorcycles, taking into account the system's readiness and public acceptance of its implementation before extending its implementation to the next phase.
"As such, I welcome all drivers and vehicle owners to switch to the digital platform. With digitisation, congestion and long queues at the RTD counters can be reduced."
He said the public would also benefit from the move as they do not have to pay an extra charge to a third party for the delivery when renewing their licences.
Loke added that for drivers and vehicle owners, including the elderly or those living in rural areas, who are not yet ready to move to the digital platform, they could still use the physical road tax and driving licence during the interim period.
He also said the drivers can save the screenshot of their digital driving licence and road tax on their handphones or print it out, in case of no Internet connectivity when they travel to certain areas.
He said for those using other people's vehicles, the vehicle's owner can share the screenshot of the digital road tax or print it out.
Loke said during the implementation period of the first phase, several categories of vehicle owners or licence holders, however, would still be required to display their road tax or present the physical copy of their driving licence.
For driving licences, they are the learner's driving licence holders; the vocational licence holders (PSV, GDL, KON); foreigners who hold Malaysian driving licences and international driving permit (IDP) holders for foreign drivers.
As for road tax, it applies to vehicles registered for private companies, e-hailing, services and goods companies and owned by foreigners.
Loke, however, stressed that enforcement action will be carried out against any party who drives a vehicle without having a valid road tax or driving licence, in line with the provisions under subsections 20(1), 90 (1) and 26(1) of the Act.
"Any questions regarding this initiative can be emailed to infodigital@jpj.gov.my or the public may call the RTD hotline at 03-2724 2522. The public can also refer to the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section provided on the RTD portal for more information."