Traffic offenders who were issued 16,529,848 summonses from 2000 to 2008 have not settled their summons worth RM2.7 billion, deputy Transport Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri told the Dewan Rakyat today.

From the 16,529,848 summonses issued, 15,220,358 were issued by the police, 470,983 by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) while Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) summonses accounted for 838,507, he said.

"Summons issued since last year are considered active," said Abdul Rahim when answering a question from Mohd Nor Othman (BN-Hulu Terengganu) in Dewan Rakyat today.

Mohd Nor had wanted to know how many summons had not been settled until April 2010.

Abdul Rahim said to ensure that outstanding summons are settled promptly by traffic offenders, a number of steps have been implemented, including barring the renewal of road tax and driving licences of traffic offenders under Section 115 of the Road Transport Act 1987.

Other efforts include allocating RM282 million to upgrade the computerized systems of the JPJ, to increase its capacity and efficiency to collect outstanding summons and compounds, effectively.

"We have also set up online systems to cancel blacklisted cases with links from other agencies, especially police, as well as set up a one-stop centre for settling summonses online and through credit cards," he said.

Meanwhile, in reply to a suggestion by Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) that such summonses annulled, Abdul Rahim said the suggestion would not be considered.

"Settling summonses is not only a form of income to the government but will also serve as a reminder to traffic offenders that they should be more careful on roads," he said.

- Bernama