[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia will begin full enforcement of its Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system from Jul 1 this year.
The move will require all foreign-registered vehicles entering the country at the Malaysia-Singapore land border to have an activated VEP tag, the Transport Ministry announced in a statement on Wednesday (Jun 4).
Upon its enforcement, foreign vehicle owners who fail to register or activate their VEP will face legal action, with summonses issued in accordance with Section 66H(7) of the Road Transport Act 1987. This provision makes it an offence to operate a foreign-registered motor vehicle in Malaysia without a valid permit.
The VEP enforcement, which applies primarily to Singapore-registered vehicles crossing the land border into Johor, began in October 2024 through a phased rollout. Initially, Malaysian authorities adopted an advocacy approach, issuing reminder notices instead of penalties to non-compliant vehicle owners.
During this first phase, 52,012 Singaporean vehicles were randomly inspected, with 2,245 or 4.3 per cent found without valid VEPs and issued reminder notices.
As at Jun 2, 2025, a total of 233,678 radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have been issued under the VEP programme, covering both private individuals and companies. Of this, 194,507 have been installed and activated, while 36,511 tags remain inactive or uninstalled.
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Drivers of non-Malaysian-registered vehicles found without a valid VEP will incur a RM300 (S$91) fine. These fines must be settled before exiting the country. Cashless payments can be made at Road Transport Department (JPJ) counters, JPJ Mobile units, or via the MyEG online platform.
“JPJ urges all foreign motor vehicle owners to promptly register, install, and activate their RFID VEP tags to avoid any inconvenience when entering or leaving Malaysia in the future,” the Transport Ministry said in the statement.
The move marks the end of a long-delayed enforcement process following widespread teething issues when the VEP system was introduced last year.
The rollout in October last year was marred by technical problems and overwhelmed service providers, leading to long queues at installation centres, registration delays and mounting frustration among Singaporean motorists and cross-border commuters.
To ease the disruption, authorities had opted to issue only reminders at the border while addressing the system’s shortcomings. The government said the staggered enforcement gave vehicle owners more time to comply and allowed officials to improve infrastructure and vendor capacity.
According to estimates from Malaysia’s Transport Ministry, an average of 16,107 vehicles from Singapore crossed the Johor-Singapore border daily in 2024. This rate suggests an annual total of over 5.8 million vehicle entries into Johor and Singapore.
