Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced today that three measures will be taken to put a stop to "Lesen Kopi", or driving licences obtained through corrupt means.

The measures are revealing the ceiling price of the charges for those wanting to take motorcycle or car driving licences, electronic circuit testing and camera installation in cars used in the Road Transport Department’s (RTD) testing of learner drivers.

Firstly, Loke said, the ceiling prices for teaching those wanting to obtain the B2 motorcycle riding licence, D car driving licence (manual) and DA car driving licence (automatic) are RM350, RM1,150 and RM1,250 respectively.

“These are the amounts that the driving schools can collect… Some of them can collect additional fees, such as for giving a ride for students to the institute, etc.

“But this must be itemised in the receipt and no hidden charges made. You can't force the people to pay.

“Some of them offer an RM2,000 package of 'bao kaotim' (pay to settle everything)... Any driving institute found going against the law will have its teaching licence cancelled,” the Seremban MP told a press conference at the Transport Ministry today.

Secondly, Loke (photo) said, there will be a fully electronic system for circuit testing, which will cover three-point turns, side parking and low gear tests.

“There will be no more human intervention during the test. The testers will monitor from the room. They will watch the learner drivers from CCTV and computerised system.”

He said this would reduce the chances of the RTD officers taking bribes.

Thirdly, Loke said every driving institute's car must have a camera installed to monitor the tester to prevent corruption during the road driving test (Ujian Jalan Raya) of the learner drivers.

“I know some of the learners are worried that if a bribe is not given, the tester will deliberately fail them. The camera will prevent corruption.”

He opined that learner driving schools should bear the cost of installation as the camera for a car will cost a few hundred ringgit - and since the car belongs to the driving school.

Any complaint the people have can be directed to the ministry’s Integrity Unit by email at aduanintegriti.gov.my or by telephone 03-83159200 and fax 03-83159300.