INSURANCE AND ROAD TAX PAYMENTS

INSURANCE AND ROAD TAX PAYMENTS

9.

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the reasons for requiring motorists to display paper road tax discs on vehicle windscreens; (b) whether the Land Transport Authority can verify compliance with insurance and road tax payments through its computer systems.

Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) draws information from its computer system for enforcement purposes. LTA’s enforcement officers use Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to instantaneously retrieve data on the motor insurance and the road tax of vehicles. However, they do from time to time use the physical road tax disc as a quick means to decide whether further checks should be carried out on a vehicle.

To a vehicle owner, the physical road tax disc serves as a reminder of the expiry date of his vehicle’s road tax. The physical disc also serves as a proxy for the Malaysian authorities to ascertain that a Singapore-registered vehicle is properly licensed and has a valid motor insurance coverage when entering Malaysia.