KUALA LUMPUR: VEHICLE inspection service providers (VISPs) should be allowed to offer repair work on vehicles sent to their centres, says transport consultant Wan Agyl Wan Hassan.
He said while the guidelines issued by the Transport Ministry for potential VISPs to rival Puspakom looked "solid", any operator intending to provide such services may not necessarily be allowed to offer repair work.
He said vehicle owners could save a lot of time if these centres were allowed to carry out repair work as it would prevent them from going back and forth to address the failure in inspection.
Relating his experience in the United Kingdom, Wan Agyl said vehicle owners were required to go for an annual inspection before they could renew their roadtax and insurance.
"When we send our cars to the inspection centres, they will give a checklist of things that need to be fixed before they do another round of inspection.
"If I can use the UK as the benchmark, we should allow the new service providers to offer repair option for the customers.
"We can focus on vehicle inspection first, then the government should consider allowing repair work at the centres maybe after five years."
He said proper audit, stringent monitoring and heavy penalty could help prevent potential abuse when both the inspection and repair work were carried out under one roof.
He said ending Puspakom's monopoly on vehicle inspection was a good step by the government to decentralise and open up the market. This would subsequently benefit vehicle owners, he said.
"I'm not saying Puspakom didn't do a good job, but I think at some point, there's a need to expand the business and allow the competition to ensure that inspection service is top notch.
"This is something that people have been waiting for as there are so many issues they've been facing with Puspakom, especially public transport service operators," said the former Land Public Transport Commission official.
One of the biggest issues with Puspakom, he said, was the congestion problem due to public transport operators lining up for the annual inspection.
Hence, having different options for vehicle owners to choose from would help in improving the quality of service to customers, he said.
"This is what we meant by open market. It allows competition, and benefits go to users."
Transport expert Rosli Azad Khan said companies applying for licences to provide periodic inspections of commercial and private vehicles must focus more on vehicle safety and roadworthiness rather than treating it as a new business venture.
He said service providers needed to ensure that all commercial vehicles were roadworthy, maintenance schedules were followed and that vehicles were kept in good working order.
Rosli said the new guidelines issued by the Transport Ministry were meant to attract new players in VISPs into the market.
"However, (Transport Minister Anthony) Loke added that Puspakom would continue to offer the services as its contract will be extended for 15 years from Sept 1, 2024, meaning that new VISPs will be competing with Puspakom.
"That explains why the guidelines on new VISPs are quite stringent, such as RM10 million authorised capital and RM5 million paid up capital. This is actually a game for the big boys and not small workshops."
Established in 1994, Puspakom is a Malaysian computerised vehicle inspection centre. It was the sole company appointed by the government to conduct mandatory inspections on both commercial and private vehicles before the government announced the end of its monopoly last year.
Loke recently said companies looking to provide periodic inspections of commercial and private vehicles can apply for a licence from June 1.