The digitalisation of JPJ advances further with more features added to the MyJPJ application.
Almost a year ago, Transport Minister YB Anthony Loke announced that Malaysian private vehicle owners can use the Digital Motor Vehicle Road Tax and Digital Malaysia Driving License instead of having to have their physical equivalents present when driving. The digital versions were available for display via the JPJ Public website or through the MyJPJ application.
This was the first step towards digitalization for JPJ and of course there were hurdles. Some Malaysian drivers were fined in Thailand for not having physical drivers licenses to produce to authorities there. Others had issues with the app itself. That being said, in 2024, JPJ has ironed out most of the kinks and are rolling out new features on their MyJPJ app.
Sharing Digital Road Tax
The first feature of note is the “Kongsi LKM” or sharing of the Digital Motor Vehicle Road Tax function. This allows vehicle owners to share a digital version of their car’s road tax with others for a set time limit. An activation code must be provided to the recipient to activate the shared road tax otherwise the sharing record will be deleted within 24 hours. This is useful for when cars are shared with family members or friends since the Digital Road Tax is tied to one’s personal MyJPJ account.
Renewal Function of e-LKM and e-LMM Through MyJPJ Application
The second new function is the ability to renew one’s road tax and driver’s license directly through the MyJPJ application. This will begin on the 1st of February 2024 and will initially only work for individual private vehicles belonging to Malaysian citizens, which is also the majority of road users.
The aim of this is to reduce congestion at JPJ counters.
RM5 Rebate To Encourage Digitalization
To encourage the switch to digital driving licenses, JPJ will offer a rebate of RM5 on digital driving license renewals from 1 February 2024 until 31 December 2024. The rebate only applies to Malaysian citizens.
Physical Road Tax Need Not Be Displayed
While the Transport Ministry notes that adoption of the digital road tax and digital driver’s license has been strong, they understand there will still be Malaysians who prefer the physical copies. For this subset of Malaysians, physical road tax and physical driving licenses will still be available and will still be issued.
That being said, the physical Road Tax sticker and physical driving license will be phased out in favour of a new interim standard. This new interim version will be in paper form and the road tax will not need to be displayed.
That being said, anyone driving without a valid road tax and valid driver’s license will still be punished in accordance to the Road Transport Act 1987.
