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PUTRAJAYA – Some luxury vehicle owners are deliberately avoiding road tax and insurance renewals, with the Road Transport Department (JPJ) identifying businesspeople, celebrities, political figures and social media influencers among those caught during its nationwide enforcement operation.
JPJ senior enforcement director Datuk Muhammad Kifli Ma Hassan said some motorists believed paying a RM300 compound fine was cheaper than renewing their road tax and insurance, while others had outstanding traffic summonses that prevented them from renewing their documents.
He said the assumption that a compound fine was a more economical option was misguided, as vehicles could be seized and would only be released after the outstanding road tax payment had been settled.
“Car owners think it is easier to drive these vehicles without road tax because if they are stopped, they only have to pay a RM300 compound fine.
“But when we take enforcement action by seizing the vehicle, we will instruct the owner to settle the road tax payment first before the vehicle is released. That is when they become aware,” he told Sinar.
Kifli dismissed claims that vehicle owners had simply forgotten to renew their road tax, saying some vehicles had been driven with expired road tax for years.
He said the excuse was outdated, as cases handled by his team involved road tax that had expired as far back as 2014, as well as in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Based on these cases, he believed the failure to renew road tax was deliberate.
He added that another emerging trend involved vehicles being blacklisted because their owners had accumulated outstanding traffic summonses.
“Some of them have between 10 and 20 summonses. When they have outstanding summonses, the vehicles are blacklisted and they cannot renew their road tax. This is a trend we have detected recently.
“Most outstanding summonses involve offences under the Automated Awareness Safety System (Awas). These account for the largest number.
“Any vehicle owner or driver with an Awas summons who fails to pay within three months and does not appear in court will be blacklisted,” he mentioned.
Kifli said the operation was not merely intended to penalise motorists but also to remind all vehicle owners of their responsibility to ensure their road tax and insurance remained valid.
He stressed that JPJ continuously monitored road users and would take action against drivers and vehicle owners who failed to comply with the requirements, regardless of whether they drove ordinary or luxury vehicles.
“For Op Luxury, we already have a list of drivers or vehicles whose road tax has not been renewed. Officers will identify suspected vehicles through inspections.
“Once it is established that the road tax and insurance have expired, the vehicles will be stopped at a safe location and the offence will be explained.
“Some drivers are dissatisfied and some try to deny the offence, but once we explain it, they understand and cooperate,” he added.
JPJ has been conducting Op Luxury nationwide since July last year. Up to September, the operation had resulted in the seizure of 3,835 luxury vehicles valued at more than RM550 million.
Fines and compound penalties collected through enforcement efforts also generated more than RM35 million in government revenue.
Toyota accounted for the highest number of luxury vehicles seized, with 720 units, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 655 and BMW with 504.
“These are the top three categories, followed by Audi in fourth place with 94 vehicles, while Porsche accounted for 82.
“We have seized approximately 142 luxury vehicles categorised as supercars, including Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce,” Kifli said.
Op Luxury aims to highlight cases involving luxury vehicle owners who use public roads without valid Motor Vehicle Licences (LKM), commonly known as road tax and insurance.
Kifli said the operation covered three categories. The first involved supercars valued at more than RM1 million, while the second comprised luxury cars priced between RM250,000 and RM1 million.
The third category involved luxury vehicles with road tax registered in a location different from where they were being used.
For example, a vehicle is located in Peninsular Malaysia but uses road tax registered in Labuan, Sabah or Sarawak.
The most expensive vehicle seized was a limited-edition McLaren believed to have been worth nearly RM9 million at the time.
“Other expensive vehicles include the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Lamborghini. Most of the vehicles we seized under the supercar category are worth more than RM1 million, with some valued at RM5 million to RM6.5 million. These are what people would call vehicles for the ultra-rich.
“As for road tax that needs to be renewed, some payments can reach RM52,000, excluding insurance,” he said.
