Can’t use RM300 fine to escape paying road tax, all dues must be settled if you want your car back – Loke

Can’t use RM300 fine to escape paying road tax, all dues must be settled if you want your car back – Loke

Owners of seized luxury vehicles must first settle all dues, including road tax, insurance and saman, before they can get their cars back, transport minister Anthony Loke has said, according to a Bernama report.

On reports that some owners were willing to pay the (minimum) RM300 fine as it was cheaper than the annual road tax, Loke said: “Vehicles that are seized due to expired road tax and insurance will only be released after all payments are settled. This includes road tax, insurance coverage and compound fines. There are no shortcuts,” adding that many owners wrongly assume that paying the RM300 fine is enough.

Will the fine be hiked? Loke replied that the ministry is reviewing the proposal and that any increase would require amendments to existing legislation.

The road transport department (JPJ) has reportedly identified over 1,000 luxury vehicles in Malaysia with long-expired road tax, some of which are apparently owned by celebrities and prominent business figures who claim the cars are only used as ‘weekend cars’. ‘Lupa‘ (I forgot) is another excuse, also popular with some caught not wearing seat belts.

JPJ’s recent Ops Luxury and Ops Luxury 2.0 crackdowns have seized at least 150 such cars, including 10 by the Negeri Sembilan chapter. A few days ago, a senior lawyer was reported as saying that he was told that it was cheaper to pay a maximum RM3,000 fine for not having the required documents compared to paying thousands for a luxury car’s road tax and insurance.

“The orang kena saman explained that it was better to pay the (at minimum) RM300 fine, as it was cheaper and more worthwhile compared to paying over RM5,000 for road tax and more than RM10,000 for insurance for his continental car. If he just continues driving without road tax and insurance and gets fined, the maximum is only RM3,000. It’s more worth it,” he told Berita Harian.

“If he were to get into an accident and hit a member of the public while having no vehicle insurance coverage, the victim or their family would not be able to make any claims. In the end, they would have to bear all court and medical costs themselves.

“Legal costs can reach up to RM10,000 to RM40,000, excluding medical and other court costs. In fact, even if they win the case, there’s no guarantee they will receive the compensation money,” he added.

JPJ’s Ops Luxury and Ops Luxury 2.0

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Jonathan James Tan

While most dream of the future, Jonathan Tan dreams of the past, although he's never been there. Fantasises much too often about cruising down Treacher Road (Jalan Sultan Ismail) in a Triumph Stag that actually works, and hopes this stint here will snap him back to present reality.

 

Comments

  • You have myJPJ app develop. You know all these high end luxury vehicles are bought by the rich. Identify with the app system and saman them directly. The app should improve by providing car mileage update with a photo or something. So it’s easier to identify if these idiots are driving illegally or not. Law should also be revised in a way if the person without an insurance MUST bare with the cost of the victims and his/her vehicle. Then things will be taken seriously.

    Also, if you want to revise the saman, implement triple the amount of roadtax and insurance. Settle semua masalah

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 28 Thumb down 1
    • Alfonso Romeo bin Kelembai on Aug 08, 2025 at 4:50 pm

      Kasihanilah jutawan tu semua… Mereka tak sengaja… Memang mereka selalunya akan kena penyakit ‘lupa’ diri selepas kaya raya

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
    • Unless the law mandates that all vehicles, regardless of whether they are in use, must renew their road tax and insurance, authorities will have no solid legal basis to summon owners unless the vehicle is caught on the road.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • BEV FTW on Aug 08, 2025 at 2:54 pm

    Good move. Should implement long time ago.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 1
  • lolsomany on Aug 08, 2025 at 3:05 pm

    Where are those rich guys commenting here? Always making bforty as laughing stock but the truth is T20 is the one who ran from tax

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 2
    • No Money on Aug 08, 2025 at 5:20 pm

      Nobody likes to pay tax, either you are rich or poor, everyone likes free money

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
      • Dugung X on Aug 08, 2025 at 6:37 pm

        People will be happy to pay tax if it is used properly and the rates are reasonable. But ppl know gomen like to pay 10-20x the market price for items so can songlap as shown in auditor general report every year. eg RM100 million for a useless app and multi millions more for useless studies.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
    • use brain on Aug 09, 2025 at 2:43 pm

      its quite silly to assume only t20 avoid paying road tax n insurance. how do you know b40 arent doing the same crime ? probably lots of b40 also dont bother to renew roadtax/insurance on their old junk proton/perodua.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Bieight on Aug 08, 2025 at 5:30 pm

    Should change the road tax structure to based on car weight, CO2 emissions

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
  • PoorT20 on Aug 08, 2025 at 5:54 pm

    Yes have to pay. But if every 2-3 years I only get caught once, then i have to pay 1/3 the cost instead of following the law.

    The fine has to scale with the actual roadtax

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Must also add on Aug 08, 2025 at 5:57 pm

    Parking & Storage Fees RM60 per day
    Transportation Fees RM1000
    Stationery Fees RM50

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • And no warranty or liability for the damage or scratches occurred during confiscating’s process and storage period.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Frankc on Aug 08, 2025 at 8:38 pm

    If a vehicle hv no insurance get involved in accident, the other party cannot claim damages from this luxury car owner. Something is wrong here. Car insurance is meant to help car owners involved in accident to pay for damages.. if no insurance doesn’t mean that the luxury car owner hv no liability for causing the accidents right?… There’s still civil lawsuit to claim damages… Right? Dear judge out there I hope you can understand this predicament.. be fair to law abiding drivers

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
    • If the offender has no insurance, civil lawsuit can be used to claim damages but legal fees are expensive and there is no guarantee they will get paid even if they win a case. The court does not help you to collect your money in a civil judgement.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • its called loop hole bro, maha kaya always can find a lot of loop holes, see how they pay tax. you mend those loop holes up and you have my support.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • use brain on Aug 09, 2025 at 2:44 pm

      its quite silly to assume only t20 avoid paying road tax n insurance. how do you know b40 arent doing the same crime ? probably lots of b40 also dont bother to renew roadtax/insurance on their old junk proton/perodua. this isnt a loophole , anyone can do it if they want.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • Bapak on Aug 09, 2025 at 4:04 pm

    Just have to catch a few penalize and viral big time . No need go after one by one . Automatically those assholes will remember to pay up . Same goes to bastard motors .

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • use brain on Aug 09, 2025 at 7:28 pm

      govt caught bijan and viraled 1mdb big time but it didnt stop other politikus from being corrupt , and his supporters in here named RM/plainbs are even trying ot return bijan into power.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Extremely poor B5 on Aug 10, 2025 at 8:20 am

    Better to put community service for minor cases up to jail term for serious cases and repeating cases. No need to fine, as they have money to pay the fine but you can’t escape a community service or jail term. Everybody get equal punishment.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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