BENTONG: All car and motorcycle owners with expired road tax will be given a special reprieve with immediate effect under the first nationwide “whitening” exercise, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said owners could renew their insurance without having to go through Puspakom inspection.

However the road tax expiry period of these vehicles must be below three years.

“Once their vehicles are insured, they can go to any JPJ (Road Transport Department) to renew the road tax.



“This is applicable for three months only until the end of June,” he said after launching the ministry’s carnival in Dataran Bentong.

Liow urged vehicle owners to take advantage of the exercise. He added that the exercise will be evaluated for its effectiveness.

“We expect this move to benefit the lower income groups, who are driving or riding with expired road tax, especially in rural areas.

“The ministry is aware of their hardship and took this into account by working together with insurance companies,” he said.

There were 29 million registered vehicles according to JPJ records but only 19 million vehicles had their road tax renewed every year.