Singapore cars to pay $7.60 for entry permit to Malaysia from mid-2015

SINGAPORE - All foreign-registered vehicle entering Malaysia from Singapore will be charged a RM20 ($7.60) vehicle-entry-permit (VEP) fee from the middle of next year.

Malaysia Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the move was in-line with the announcement in July by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the implementation of VEP for foreign registered vehicles entering Malaysia via Johor, the New Straits Times reported on Saturday.

He was quoted as saying that the Malaysia transport ministry was working out the "details of the VEP's implementation at the two entry-points in Johor, which is the Causeway and the Second Link".

He said that Malaysia had planned to implement the VEP in January, but postponed the scheme "as there are detailed preparations to be done, including the installation of special devices at the two entry-points in the state".

A round trip to Malaysia using the Causeway now costs about $13.10 - more than five times the cost before revisions by the two sides on Oct 1, reported The Straits Times.

Singapore now charges $35 VEP a day for four-wheel vehicles and $4 daily for motorcycles except on weekends and Singapore public holidays. Traffic between both countries through the Causeway and Second Link is estimated at 400,000 crossings both ways daily, the Business Times said in an online report.

sinsh@sph.com.sg