Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced on Aug. 17 that all unpaid fines for traffic offences caught by the Automatic Enforcement System (AES) will be written off.

Some 3.1 million unpaid summonses, worth about RM435 million (S$145.5 million), will be forgiven by the Pakatan Harapan government as a one-off gesture of goodwill.

This is so as the government will take over the operation of the AES from private companies.

Loke said: "This is a one-off. After Sept. 1, JPJ (the Road Transport Department) will fully take over the operations of AES and any summons issued then has to be paid."

"There will not be any more such offers or discounts."

From private to public

The AES was implemented in September 2012 to monitor federal roads, expressways and highways.

It was initially run by two private companies, ATES Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap Sdn Bhd.

Each company invested a sum between RM300 million (S$100.4 million) and RM400 million (S$133.8 million).

The Pakatan Harapan manifesto mentioned "abolishing tolls" under Promise 6:

"The Pakatan Harapan Government will review all highway concession agreements. We will renegotiate to obtain the best value for money for the people so that we can take over the concessions with the ultimate view of abolishing tolls gradually.

We believe that infrastructure like roads and highways are the responsibility of the government for the people."

However, it did not specifically mention forgiving traffic fines.

Singaporean offenders

According to The Straits Times in January 2017, Singaporeans had accumulated 184,024 unpaid summons since 2010, although it's unclear how many of those summons came under the AES.

After a crackdown by Malaysian police in Johor in January 2017, 3,275 outstanding summonses from 3,000 Singaporean motorists were settled, with RM200,000 in fines paid.

If you happen to have an unpaid traffic offence caught by the AES, thank your good fortune -- and drive more carefully next time.

Top image from Pixabay.