A trade union has called on the government to overhaul the procedures needed to obtain a driving licence in the country, especially the costs involved in getting one, which it says is a burden on the B40 group.
The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said the fee to get a Class D licence costs between RM1,200 to RM2,300, and this was too high for the lower income group. It added that the cost does not commensurate with the service provided, as the New Straits Times reports.
In a statement, MTUC said that certain fee penalties should be scrapped. Citing an example, it said candidates have to pay RM100 for being absent from the road transport department (JPJ) driving test although they have valid reasons for missing the test. In another example, it said that a colour blind student sitting for the computer test, which includes a colour blindness test, would fail the test, and would then need to pay extra to sit for another special test.
“This double payment on the grounds that the booking with the JPJ has been made is nonsense and the institution is driving to seek profit in the wrong way. The pay-for-all error policy should be discontinued. The driving institution should not hold back the L licence if the student failed to pay the course fee,” the trade union said.
“The absence of a flow chart for customer reference makes it difficult to understand the driving institute’s standard operating procedure. Discrimination and payment fraud will easily occur and corruption will permeate the affairs of driving institutions,” it added.
As part of the overhaul, MTUC suggested that computer and driving tests be fully managed by JPJ while the driving institution is only limited to be a training provider, and urged the department to develop a system to reduce the involvement of driving institutions. It said this would reduce the red tape and also greatly lower the cost needed to obtain a driving licence.
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My honest opinion: if you’re priced out of something, it’s because you shouldn’t be able to afford it. Our country is too reliant on private transportation and not many are willing to take public transportation because they complain that it’s inefficient. Authorities also have no real incentive to improve public transportation because lots of people don’t actually take them outside of the LRT/MRTs, so it’s a chicken-and-egg problem.
They completely failed on promoting the public transport. They should make public transportation easy & accessible to even kids. They should also promote on HOW! to access public transportations. I was once had no Idea how to use public transport, ended up costing me a lot of time and money wasted just to learn various transport modes. There’s no way kids under 18 could learn all that without someone experienced accompanying them. Safe to say, as of now it’s still inconvenience until you reach one of LRT MRT station. Cities in MY develop infra for cars instead of pedestrian friendly city, also doesn’t help at all.
this is the issue with people living in klang valley their whole life. brader malaysia is not just klang valley, public transport pretty much dont exist outside of the main city for other states, driving license cost is a country wide issue.
Brader, I’m living some 200km away from KV but I do know public transport in Malaysia is the best within KL city centre, then what that make other cities? Even worse! Yet you don’t see this as an issue. You want all those cities throughout Malaysia also develop into a city for cars, pedestrian have to walk alongside cars for less than 200m destinations.
B40 this, b40 that… They keep being played by politicians, and they still fall for it…this is a non issue.. Its trival.. Instead of funding enforcement of the law of motorists and specially bikes to maintain law and order, lets focus on something hardly anyone asked for
i think they can kill two birds with one stone on this one. make it cheaper and improve road safety through new, more updated module. also takes out corruption and let only really qualified drivers/riders on the road. i think a lot can be gained by improving current system.
“Not to worry, I have instructed the authorities to set up another task force to study the problem and propose some solutions….”
-Ah Loke-
if B40 also cannot afford driving license, then they should just stick to their motorbike license. their status is just a bike, not a car.
The title should be scrap all unnecessary fees for all, not just B40…… everything B40, B40, B40… are we a communist country? ( nanti marah pulak )
SPM grad, siapala bukan B40?
SPM’s parents already suffer from further education, monthly expenses etc.
B40 refer to household income,
noob are exploiting it.
B40:
less tax = subsidy
cash voucher = subsidy
lower TNB Bill rate due to lower usage = subsidy
petrol = subsidy
who much subsidy has been given to B40?
all are meaningless,
might as well flat rate to all, then give cash back to B40 then you can count, you can see. no job pun ada cash.
sorry to whom should i sell my car?
It’s not my fault I was born poor but it’s my fault if I die poor
Overhauling the whole procedure of getting a license is a way to clear the backlog issue that jpj is currently facing.
Can’t afford driving test fee but can afford to buy car. Bullsh!+
Ummmm.. if taking license is pricey, cars are even more pricey no?
Saya sokong idea MTUC… Bayaran yang dikenakan tidak masuk akal. Kalau gagal satu bahagian bayaran yang dikenakan terlalu mahal RM100. Kemudian kenderaan dan motorsikal yang DISEDIAKAN pun sudah uzur. Lebih baik bayar Saman TIADA lesen daripada ambil lesen. Harap JPJ dapat mengkaji semula bayaran ini.