JOHOR BARU: Some 58,791 Singapore-registered vehicle owners have applied for the vehicle entry permit (VEP) since it was announced on May 28, until the end of last month.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke projected the number of applicants would surge up to 100,000 by its mandatory Oct 1 enforcement date.
He said the recent figure of applicants received through vendor counters and online portals included repeated applicants, while some 24,104 submissions or 40 per cent were incomplete.
All foreign-registered vehicles entering the country via land at both Johor entry points from Singapore are required to apply for the VEP.
Vehicles that have been registered will be fitted with a radio frequency identification tag.
To apply for the VEP, the vehicle owners are required to submit a copy of the vehicle's insurance policy and Certificate of Entitlement, and their identification card.
Loke said to support the expected surge, the government has instructed the VEP vendor company to hire additional staff and extend its daily operational hours in anticipation of the sharp increase in applications over the next two months.
Currently, the VEP RFID Tag vendor TCSens Sdn Bhd operates from its office in Danga Bay here, between 9am and 5pm daily.
"So far, 19,640 VEP applications have been fully processed, with applicants either collecting their VEP tags from the vendor centre or receiving them by mail, while 11,435 applications are currently being processed," he said after a working visit to the centre here, today.
Earlier, Loke attended a briefing at the VEP vendor centre and observed the installation process for the Singaporean vehicles.
Starting Oct 1, all foreign vehicles from Singapore are required to be VEP-registered, when entering Malaysia via both the Johor Causeway's Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar and the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex at the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link.
The VEP enforcement is aimed at ensuring that all road users, including foreign vehicles, fully comply with Malaysian road regulations and that comprehensive safety monitoring can be carried out.
Loke said the Transport Ministry will announce the full standard operating procedures for VEP implementation soon, following a review of the first day of enforcement at the CIQs in Johor.
"In the remaining two months before its mandatory enforcement date, we aim to increase the number of registrations.
"The enforcement SOP, including actions against foreign vehicles entering without a VEP, will be announced soon," he said, adding the SOP and its methods were already in place.
He said although the VEP was implemented in 2019, only 10 to 15 per cent of Singaporean vehicles had registered for it.
"This is in contrast to the 18,000 Singaporean vehicles that enter the country through Johor daily.
"Therefore, it's time to enforce the VEP regulation on foreign vehicles starting Oct 1, using the existing system that has long been available but not fully enforced," he said.