KUALA LUMPUR – The Transport Ministry today said all classes of public transportation services will be allowed to operate between Malaysia and Singapore when the land border opens on April 1.
The relaxed rules come after both countries announced that fully vaccinated travellers would be allowed to cross the land border without undergoing quarantine or Covid-19 tests from next month.
“This authorisation applies to all categories of travellers and use of all types of land transportation, including all classes of cross-border public transportation such as multi-destination buses, express buses, tourist buses, worker’s buses, and cross-border taxis,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Therefore all relevant operators of public transportation services in the country can begin to prepare to commence their operations, including the renewal of related permits and licences, whether they are from the Road and Transport Department, Land Public Transport Agency, or Singaporean authorities.”
The ministry said it was up to public transport operators to inform the public of the resumption of their services, while the public can seek information from the operators on the services on offer.
However, it reminded operators that they will still be required to comply with existing standard operating procedures (SOPs), including the displaying of QR codes in their vehicles, and ensuring the passengers have scanned the codes for contact tracing purposes.
“In line with current regulations, the operators are not required to check the vaccination status of passengers before they board the vehicles,” the ministry said.
“Operators or drivers of public service vehicles may refuse to provide services to any traveller who does not comply with current health SOPs, such as the wearing of face masks.”
The ministry said the onus was on travellers to ensure they had installed the MySejahtera app on their smartphones and met all set travel conditions.
It added that travellers who failed to comply with the rules will face legal action, including compounds or penalties as stipulated under the law.
Permits required for private vehicles
Singaporean private vehicles will be required to register and obtain a foreign vehicles’ entry permit (VEP) by visiting https://vep.jpj.gov.my.
The ministry said all successful Singaporean applicants will be given an RFID VEP tag integrated with the Touch n Go e-wallet, which will be used to pay a road charge (RC) of RM20 per entry when entering Malaysia.
“For Singaporean registered vehicles that have yet to have the RFID VEP installed, RC payments can be made using a Touch n’ Go card,” the ministry said.
“All travellers driving Singapore-registered vehicles must ensure their Touch n’ Go cards are still valid and have enough balance in their e-wallets or Touch n’ Go cards to pay the RC, to avoid congestion and delay when entering Malaysia via BSI (Sultan Iskandar Customs) or KSAB (Complex and Sultan Abu Bakar).” – The Vibes, March 28, 2022
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