THE vehicle entry permit (VEP) charge for foreign private vehicles entering the country has been implemented and the ruling will be expanded in stages, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said VEP has been introduced at the Malaysia-Singapore border and will be extended to the Malaysia-Thailand border first before it is implemented at the Malaysia-Indonesia border in Sabah and Sarawak.

“However, the expansion of its implementation will take time,” he said when winding up the debate on the Land Public Transport (Amendment) Bill.

The bill was later passed by voice vote.

Loke said for now, the Land Public Transport Act 2010 covers only foreign commercial vehicles.

For private vehicles, he said, their entry is governed by the regulations under the Road Transport Act 1987, including the need to apply for an international circulation permit.

On the presence of foreign pirate vehicles in the country, Loke said the amendments will allow the Transport Ministry to subject them to the same licensing regulations governing local commercial vehicles.

“These pirate vehicles will be required to register with and be licensed by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) if they are foreign vehicles. These powers will compel them (foreign vehicles) to abide by the same conditions imposed on local vehicles,” he said.

Apart from this, he said, the Road Transport Department and Apad have been asked to provide guidelines to make it easier for p-hailing riders to get the vocational driving licence (GDL).

He said the ministry is aware of p-hailing riders’ complaints regarding the regulations but stressed that the government does not mean to inconvenience them.

“We will make it easy. The fact is we want to implement (GDL) to make them more aware of road safety,” he said.

The Dewan Rakyat also approved the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2023 and Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Bill 2023.

The Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Bill 2023 is aimed at amending the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 to, among others, classify p-hailing vehicles as goods vehicles subject to intermediation business licence.

The Dewan Rakyat was adjourned sine die. – Bernama, April 4, 2023.