DAP has called on the government to emulate Singapore in forcing foreigners to pay their car summons before leaving the country, as there is a total worth of RM24 million of unpaid fines.

 

Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching said since 2010, there has been a drastic increase in summons accumulated by foreigner-owned cars, with only a mere 25 percent being paid, amounting to around RM8 million.

 

“The government should enforce (a rule) that the foreigners (have to) pay their summons before leaving the country.

 

“This is a big loss financially to the government when there are millions in unpaid in summons.

 

“It reflects badly on the government when foreigners don’t pay their summons. It makes it seem like the issuing of the summon is pointless when there is no enforcement on it,” she told Malaysiakini today.

 

Instead, Teo called on Putrajaya to follow what its southern neighbour has done.

 

“In Singapore, when a foreigner’s vehicle is summoned, the offenders have to pay the summon before being allowed out of the country.

 

“Among the methods used by the Singapore government is by electronic online summon system, where the summons are automatically registered in the system,” she added.

 

She suggested that if implemented here, it would make it easier for the government to track the offenders and make them pay before they leave.

 

Teo said this based on a written answer she received from the government in the last Dewan Rakyat sitting.

 

According to the data provided, from 2010 to 2014, around 299,823 tickets have been issued by the police on foreign registered cars.

 

The amount of summons increased by 3.5 times from the year 2012 to 2013 alone, with over 72,921 cars being summoned compared to 20,806 in the previous year.