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Two celebrities who own million-ringgit luxury cars with unpaid road tax were discovered by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) recently.
JPJ Senior Director of Enforcement Muhamad Kifli Ma Hassan said the discovery was a result of the department’s intelligence and investigation through Ops Luxury that is being conducted throughout the nation, Berita Harian reported.
“We found that there were two more celebrities who have not paid road tax for their luxury vehicles. From our observation, they have not yet operated the vehicles which they store at home, and used other vehicles to go out,” Muhamad Kifli said during a press conference at the JPJ Vehicle Storage Depot in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Earlier, media reported celebrities and business owners are among those who own luxury cars of brands like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Porsche with road tax and insurance that have gone unpaid over a long period.
They claimed to use them as “weekend cars” as an excuse to why they seldom drive the expensive cars.
However, Muhamad Kifli said that the overdue road tax and expired insurance policy are still considered an offence.
Do you need to renew your car’s road tax and insurance if it’s just being stored at home?
Malaysian law does not require road tax for vehicles not used on public roads. according to insurance service provider BJAK, there is no need to renew your road tax if the vehicle is not in use and is not on public roads.
It’s also not illegal to not renew your road tax as long as the vehicle is:
- Not being used at all.
- Is kept on private property (e.g. in a garage).
- Is not driven or parked on any public road.
As for insurance, a valid policy is required to renew your road tax. To put it simply, if you don’t renew your insurance, you cannot renew your road tax.
Another important thing to note is that if your road tax has expired for over a year, the vehicle must undergo Puspakom inspection before its road tax can be renewed. Be ready to provide additional documents to JPJ if this happens.
Ops Luxury
Conducted since June this year, Ops Luxury was launched to crack down on luxury vehicles that violate JPJ regulations.
JPJ shared on Facebook last Saturday (10 August) that 258 luxury cars were seized nationwide in the operation’s latest phase codenamed Ops Luxury 3.0, where 104 high-end vehicles including Ferrari, Range Rover, Porsche, and Ford Mustang models driven by both locals and foreigners were confiscated.
Muhamad Kifli said the vehicles were seized for offences that included the driver not having a valid driver’s licence, as well as expired road tax and insurance.
A total of 627 summonses were issued in the last operation.
“Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of seizures with 93 vehicles, followed by Selangor with 61, Penang with 28, Sarawak with 16, and Kelantan with 15.
“All vehicles have been placed at the JPJ depot for futher investigation and were seized under the Road Transport Act 1987,” Muhamad Kifli said.
Impounded vehicles will only be released after its owners renew their road tax and insurance
Muhamad Kifli stressed that JPJ would not compromise with any party violating traffic regulations, and the periodic implementation of Ops Luxury will continue to be strengthened as part of JPJ’s strategic efforts to safeguard the safety, well-being, and sustainability of Malaysia’s transport sector.
Anyone found breaching the Road Transport Act 1987, or its regulations would face strict action, he added.
“The public with information on such violations can lodge complaints through the MyJPJ application via e-Aduan, or email to aduantrafik@jpj.gov.my with complete details,” he said.
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