A NEW vehicle registration series, “Malaysia”, will be introduced to the public next month as the Transport Ministry looks for ways to add to Putrajaya’s revenue.  

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the introduction of the “Malaysia” series was also in conjunction with this year’s Merdeka celebration.

“Every number is up for bidding. No number will be reserved for anyone.

“The only exception is ‘Malaysia2020’, which is reserved for the prime minister,” Loke told a press conference at the ministry in Putrajaya today.  

Loke said the government was expected to raise more than RM22 million from the sale of the “Malaysia” series, as previous sales of special series like “V” and “F” had recorded RM22.48 million and RM17.55 million respectively.  

The bids for the “Malaysia” series, which cover numbers from “Malaysia 1” to “Malaysia 9999”, will be opened for bids from the public from July 2 to July 16.

The results will be announced on August 23.  

“The money will go to our consolidated funds, which go back to the government. Once the government gets more revenue, the Transport Ministry will have other proposals to improve public transportation.

“For example, we want to roll out RM100 unlimited passes for public transport, and subsidise public buses throughout the country.  

“All these (programmes) need money. We don’t want to only ask for money from the treasury, so we are looking at ways to improve the government’s revenue.”

Loke said once the “Malaysia” series was completed, the Road Transport Department would introduce the state series.  

“No preference is given (to cabinet ministers). This is a form of revenue for the government. Anyone who wants to bid will have to bid high.”

Malaysia’s most expensive number plate is “Patriot 1”, which was sold for a record RM1.3 million to Yayasan Patriot Negara Malaysia in 2015.  

Loke said the ministry would also be meeting with car dealerships tomorrow to discuss the faulty Takata airbags.

He said the issue of faulty airbags did not only affect Honda cars, but other brands like Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mazda, and Lexus.  

“The numbers of affected cars are quite huge, and many people are not aware their cars have been recalled.  

“We already have all the figures (of affected cars). Tomorrow we want to discuss how we can make the whole process (of changing airbags) faster and more efficient, and the steps to be taken by each company.”

Loke previously announced that vehicle owners affected by the recall of faulty Takata airbags would not be able to renew their road tax until replacements had been made. – June 4, 2018.