In an interesting development, the Road Transport Department (JPJ), has reported that the hard copy Grant will be phased out in favour of the new online-based Vehicle Ownership Certificate (VOC).
The VOC will contain all the vehicle and owner details, though JPJ was keen to point out that the VOC is not needed when an owner decides to renew their road tax. Furthermore, vehicle ownership transfer is also made easier as the VOC can be accessed online easily.
The process will run in phases, which started from 1 June 2016. For the first phase, the VOC will be issued to new vehicle owners or given to those performing a vehicle ownership transfer. Beginning September 2016, the second phase of the implementation will see the VOC being issued to owners renewing their road tax and those updating details on the Grant. The third phase, which will start on 1 January 2017, will require all vehicle owners to head to a JPJ office to obtain a VOC on a voluntary basis.
JPJ is expecting all registered vehicles in Malaysia to shift to the VOC by January 2020.
According to the JPJ, the phasing out of the paper-based Grant was meant to streamline and prevent car cloning syndicated from making copies of legit Grant for sale. This move, the JPJ hopes, will clamp down on scrap Singaporean vehicles from entering the country.
Photo credit: Careta
