Traffic at the Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link remained clear on Tuesday (Oct 1) after the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) scheme for foreign-registered vehicles to enter Malaysia kicked in.
However, queues at the VEP offices in Woodlands and in Johor Bahru showed no signs of easing.
From Oct 1, motorists entering Malaysia are required to have installed and activated on their vehicles a VEP radio frequency identification (RFID) tag linked to a Touch ‘n Go eWallet. Those without a tag can still enter the country, but will receive a reminder.
They will also be issued warnings when they exit Malaysia, the Malaysian Road Transport Department said on Sept 27, amid complaints in Singapore of delays and snags in the application process.
At noon on Oct 1, checkpoint monitoring app Beat The Jam showed that vehicles heading into Johor via the Causeway needed about 17 to 26 minutes to clear the checkpoint, a slight dip from the 18 to 28 minutes an hour before.
Over at the Second Link, the estimated time needed to clear the checkpoint remained consistent from 8am to 10am – motorists were expected to take a maximum of 22 minutes, with the fastest clearing times ranging from 13 to 14 minutes.
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From 11am to 12pm, this dropped to about 12 to 19 minutes. The wait time had peaked earlier at about 7:30am, with an estimated clearing time of 18 to 28 minutes.
The expected wait times across both checkpoints was lower than the noon peaks seen a week ago.
Data from the same day a week ago showed clearing times peaking at more than 60 minutes near noon at the Causeway checkpoint, with a smaller peak of nearly 40 minutes near 7pm.
For the Second Link, last week’s data showed a peak of about 40 minutes near noon, and another of more than 50 minutes just before 7pm.
Malaysian daily The Star reported that a Home Ministry official at the CIQ observed a drop of about 20 per cent in the number of cars entering Johor from Singapore on Oct 1, but added that it was too early to say if it was because of the VEP.
Johor’s Road Transport Department said in a Facebook post that it had issued reminder notices at the CIQ on Oct 1 to Singaporean vehicle owners who had not completed their VEP registration.
When The Straits Times arrived at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex in Johor Bahru, across the Causeway at Woodlands, at about 8:58am, VEP registration signs could be seen placed at the entrance, visible to vehicles that were about to enter the checkpoint booths.
At one of the booths, the immigration officer checking the passports asked for a VEP tag, as well as confirmation that the checkpoint toll had been paid. The rental car used by Straits Times reporters did not have a VEP tag, so a confirmation slip was shown instead.
The officer then asked the reporters to speak with another officer through an intercom, who enquired if the car was registered in Singapore or Malaysia, before granting immigration clearance to enter Malaysia at 9:03am.
Limited queue numbers issued per day
At the VEP centre in Danga Bay in JB, more than 50 people were seen queuing at about 10:30am, with the group split into two queues.
One queue was for inquiries, which includes applications for VEP, complaints, and deregistration of current VEPs. Those in that queue said they had waited between two and three hours for their turn.
Four staff members were seen handling inquiries, with about two others helping motorists affix their VEP RFIDs to their vehicles.
The other queue was for collection of VEP tags. Those in that line said they had waited about an hour for staff members to first inspect their vehicles, and gauge if the windscreens were suitable for the RFID tag.
They were told they would then have to wait another hour for the collection of the tag, which would be affixed onto their windscreens with the assistance of staff at the centre.
Some who attempted to join the inquiry queue were told to return after 2pm. The issuing of queue numbers for both queues had ceased at about 10.15am, said several motorists The Straits Times spoke to.
A VEP centre employee said between 200 and 250 queue numbers will be issued each day – split between a morning session before lunch, and then again after 2pm.
“We don’t want it to be too crowded,” he said.
Rosman Haris, a tour coach and bus driver, successfully collected his tag at about 10am on Oct 1.
The 50-year-old said he got an appointment to collect the RFID tags on Dec 22, but went to the VEP centre at Danga Bay on Sept 30 to reschedule his appointment because he was worried he would be issued warnings when VEP enforcement kicked in on Oct 1.
He said: “When I came yesterday, they just told me to ignore the appointment date and come in when the VEP centres are open and take a queue number to collect the RFID tags.”
Rosman began queuing at about 7am on Oct 1, and got his VEP tag affixed to his windscreen at 10am.
He said: “Since they told us to come as and when, we booked a hotel from Sept 30 to stay the night and came in as early as possible to get the tag fixed.
“The process was fairly smooth, but I understand there may be confusion. I was surprised myself when I asked the staff if I could push forward my collection and they said I could just come like that.”
Private-hire driver Anuwar Badsha, 62, said he queued for a VEP tag from 8am to 11am, only to be later told by the VEP centre staff that private hire drivers are required to only show a VEP confirmation slip, and not required to have VEP tags fitted on their vehicles.
An employee at a Touch ‘n Go help counter outside the VEP centre said one of the main problems faced by Singaporean motorists was linking the VEP with their Touch n’ Go eWallets, which is used to pay tolls and other products and services in Malaysia.
She said about 80 per cent had issues due to a mismatch of personal details used to apply for each service, and cited the example of Singaporean motorists who used their identity card numbers to verify the Touch N’ Go accounts, but used their passport numbers for the VEP.
In such situations, the scanners will fail to detect the VEP-RFID when transactions like tolls are required.
For those planning to drive to Malaysia, here is what they need to look out for.
A VEP acts like an “identity card” for vehicles – each permit, which is renewable every five years, has an RFID tag that allows the Malaysian authorities to identify a foreign-registered vehicle on the country’s roads.
It can be used to pay toll fees on Malaysian highways, as well as the RM20 (S$6) road charge levied on foreign vehicles when they enter Malaysia.
First announced in 2017, the scheme is intended to determine the number of foreign vehicles entering Malaysia, and to prevent car theft and deter car-cloning syndicates. It will also allow the Malaysian authorities to track a vehicle’s traffic offences and outstanding summonses, which must be settled before exiting the country.
The VEP application process has been dogged by complaints, such as applicants not receiving confirmation e-mails even after waiting a month, and long queues and insufficient manpower to handle demand at VEP centres in Singapore and Johor. THE STRAITS TIMES