Display physical road tax stickers when crossing borders, says Sarawak minister

KUCHING: Malaysian vehicles crossing the border from Sarawak to Brunei or Kalimantan, Indonesia, must continue to display physical road tax stickers, says state Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin.

He said drivers must also carry physical driving licences with them in both countries.

"Drivers must abide by the laws and regulations of those countries. Both Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia are maintaining the usual procedures of displaying physical road tax on vehicles and carrying physical driving licences when entering those countries," he said in a statement today.

Lee said his ministry would work closely with the consul-general's offices of Brunei and Indonesia in Kuching on the matter.

He also pledged to bring it up in the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) meeting.

On Feb 10, federal Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that drivers no longer needed to carry a physical driving licence or display the road tax sticker on their vehicles.

He said they could instead apply for the digital version of their road tax and driving licences on the Road Transport Department's (JPJ) website or MyJPJ app.

Lee said drivers in Sarawak should take note that this was the first phase in the federal Transport Ministry's initiative to encourage drivers to switch to the digital platform to help reduce long queues at JPJ counters.

"The public should not panic because during this early stage, all owners of private vehicles are given time to adapt to the digital system," he said, adding that drivers could still obtain physical copies of their road tax and driving licences from JPJ or the post office for now.