KUALA LUMPUR: Individuals who need a physical copy of their driving licence or road tax may be required to pay a fee next year, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
This was in response to complaints from the public, as some still prefer to use physical driving licences and road tax, he said.
"So, in that respect, we will indeed improve early next year.
"Therefore, we will announce an initiative for anyone who wishes to print their licence physically, and they may need to pay for the printing… the physical card," he said in response to a question from Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (PH-Ledang) at the Dewan Rakyat.
Loke, however, did not elaborate further on the charges that will be imposed. He said there will be no turning back in the digital shift, and efforts will focus on identifying areas for improvement.
Loke said his ministry is among the most supportive of national digitalisation measures.
He said the MyJPJ smartphone app was downloaded by 13.7 million users, with transactions involving the renewal of digital road tax and licences of over one million transactions amounting RM121 million.
Meanwhile, to the initial question from Hasnizan Harun (PN-Hulu Selangor), Loke said the Road Transport Department plans to introduce a notification function to alert users about their motor vehicle license (LKM) expiration date.
"This is one of the improvements being implemented by the ministry, as part of the department's digitalisation agenda.
"This new feature will be announced to the public once it is developed and ready for use.
"Since the launch of the RTD's digitalisation initiative, the ministry and the department have been committed to continuously improving the MyJPJ application to enhance the delivery of online services to the public.
"I welcome the suggestion from the Hulu Selangor MP (Hasnizan) to create this notification feature so that the public can renew their LKM," he said.
On using devices or special applications to check road tax digitally, Loke said his ministry has provided sufficient equipment to enforcement officers during roadblock operations.
"The standard operating procedure or roadblocks is not only for RTD, as the department has also informed the police that there is no need to physically check the LKM.
"If you have recently gone through a roadblock, you would have noticed that police or RTD officers no longer use or check road tax in vehicles.
"This is because their devices or mobile phones are equipped with a system where they simply need to enter the vehicle's plate number into the system, and the information will immediately appear on their app or gadget, showing whether the vehicle has a valid road tax or not," he said.