Some 5,000 motorcycles and cars have been sent back to Malaysia from Singapore via towing companies, Shin Min Daily News reported.

This is due to Malaysians wanting to save costs stemming from vehicle entry permit fees, maintenance costs, and parking fees, as they are now unable to travel between the two countries daily like how they used to do.

Paying Singapore prices to keep their Malaysian vehicles on roads here can add up.

Based on the Shin Min report, it is understood that the majority of the 5,000 vehicles sent back to Malaysia are motorcycles.

Towing services seeing brisk business

Before Covid-19 happened, about 300,000 people travelled between Singapore and Malaysia daily.

Since May 2020, the demand for services to tow motorcycles back to Johor Bahru has increased by more than 10-fold.

According to one towing service provider, the most number of motorcycles they have to send back in a day was 120.

The service provider has to get approval from the Malaysia government to cross the border with the vehicles in tow.

Checks will have to be carried out to ensure that the licence plate really belongs to the car, or if the motorcycle has any outstanding fines that need to be paid off first before leaving Singapore.

Shin Min reported that some Malaysians were intending to sell their motorcycles immediately after getting them back.

This is likely in response to the continued closure of the border and the lack of need for this particular mode of transport if Malaysians cannot go back and forth between Singapore and Malaysia.

To move a motorcycle back to JB costs about S$80 to S$150.

High costs

Currently, all foreign-registered vehicles are required to pay vehicle entry permit (VEP) fees of S$4 per day for motorcycles, and S$35 per day for cars.

Each VEP is valid for 14 days from the date of entry into Singapore.

In other words, it costs roughly RM12 or RM105 a day to keep a motorcycle or car in Singapore.

The Land Transport Authority announced on Sep. 23 the reinstating of the vehicle entry permit renewal requirement from October 2020: "Penalties will be imposed on vehicles with expired VEPs from Oct. 15, 2020, onwards."

LTA had previously extended the VEP validity period from March to the end of September 2020, to help Malaysians lower their cost of opting to stay in Singapore during Malaysia's movement control order (MCO).

As the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia has acted up again, any hopes of the borders reopening swiftly for easier travel have been dashed.

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