It has been confirmed that from now on, all special number plates will be handled only by the Road Transport Department (JPJ), but the transport ministry says that existing special series plates that were previously approved will still be able to be sold over the next year.

Transport minister Anthony Loke said that past special plates handled by NGOs, which each paid JPJ RM1 million for the distribution rights, will be given a one-year grace period to sell and register numbers for their approved series. He added that there will be no extension to the time limit given by the government, and no renewals will be permitted.

The last special plate introduced via the NGO route was UP, but there have been a host of special plates in recent times. These include G1G-G999G, X, XX, YY, UU, GTR, GG, SAM, K1M, T1M, A1M, US, SMS, NBOS, NAAM, VIP, G, GT, U, Y, PERFECT, PATRIOT and FB by JPJ itself.

The latest announcement doesn’t mean the end of special plates, of course, just that it will all come only from one channel, namely the government. The first one has already been revealed – the ‘Malaysia’ special plate series will be open for public bidding from July 2-16.

As for the above-mentioned special plates, don’t dally if you want one – you have a year and a half left to get your hands on one of those.