PUSPAKOM will soon no longer be the only option for vehicle inspections
So as we all know, there is only one body that is recognised throughout the country when it comes to vehicle inspections as the default authority and that is PUSPAKOM. It has been this way for many years now and for a long time, it seemed this would be the case forever, but that is all about to change.
Recently, everyone’s favourite undercover LRT inspector and Transport Minister, Anthony Loke shared in a Facebook post that when the current concession to PUSPAKOM ends on 31 August 2024, periodic vehicle inspections can be conducted by any eligible party that meet the criteria, instead of only PUSPAKOM, thus ending its monopoly.
Moreover, his post, roughly translated, states, “On 17 March 2023, the Cabinet has decided that the periodic inspection service of motor vehicles (in Malaysia) will be open to any eligible party that meets the criteria set after the current concession to PUSPAKOM expires on 31 August 2024.”
“This process of visiting parties interested in the periodic inspection of motor vehicles is expected to begin as late as the first quarter of 2024 and this decision is in line with the Government’s desire to create a competitive environment and provide ease of access to all Malaysians.” He adds.
He concluded with “Regarding the current PUSPAKOM Concession Agreement which has been extended for 15 years in 2009, the Cabinet has agreed to extend the agreement for the same period, effective 1 September 2024, amendments to the terms of the existing agreement will be added.”
So, now that the Prime Minister himself has already stated that the Government is planning to review the Touch ‘N Go monopoly on tolls and our Transport Minister putting an end to the PUSPAKOM monopoly, it looks like the current government is finally giving the Malaysian motorists the changes we have been waiting for.
On top of that, note that Anthony Loke did not state that PUSPAKOM will no longer be an option at all, but that the Government will be extending its concession by the same period of time that it did in 2009, which is another 15 years until 2039, but this time other parties can also perform inspections too instead of only PUSPAKOM.
It is still too soon to say if the PUSPAKOM monopoly ending will bring healthy competition or not but I certainly think it will be a whole lot better than PUSPAKOM being the only player in the space so let’s all wait and see just how much more we get to save when competition is on the table for us.
So what do you guys think about this? Are you happy to see PUSPAKOM finally have some competition or did you prefer a monopoly?
