Confusion over VEP for car-sharing, rental firms in Singapore as Oct 1 deadline arrives

SINGAPORE: The confusion over whether a Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) is needed for cars to travel to Malaysia from Tuesday (Oct 1) has extended to car-sharing and rental firms.
Mr Darren Ang, sales manager of MV Auto, said that even though he started enquiring about VEPs for his fleet of 50 rental cars in May, he has not received a response from the Malaysian authorities. 
He then went ahead and began applying for VEPs for his vehicles a month ago, but not a single one has successfully got a tag yet. 
While he was resigned to losing some business over the delays, he then got news last week that enforcement would be delayed. 
Malaysian authorities said on Friday that Singapore vehicles without a VEP can still enter the country from Oct 1. Drivers will get a warning notice before they leave Malaysia. 
This only added to his confusion. 
“How many warnings can a person get? If I go in every two to three days, do I get a warning every time? Can I simply throw (the warning) away? Without confirmation and clarification, we’re definitely worried,” said Mr Ang. 
The confusion has already resulted in at least one customer cancelling their booking over the coming weekend and opting for alternative transport to get to Malaysia, he said. 
He fears his losses could increase in the coming weeks if his questions are left unanswered, given that 65 per cent of his customers rent his cars for cross-border travel. 
The confusion and frustration are especially palpable for car-sharing firms, whose vehicles are owned by hosts rather than the company, hence complicating the VEP application process. 
Drive Lah co-founder Dirk-Jan ter Horst said his firm has pending VEP applications from its hosts. 
“We can’t do much here as it is pending with Malaysia (authorities),” he said. 
In the meantime, Drive Lah cars without VEP tags cannot be taken across the border. Drive Lah team said it is working with hosts to ensure the car’s status can be updated once they successfully collect the tags. 
He said around 40 per cent of his customers rent cars to travel to Malaysia, but they can still book Drive Lah cars that already have the VEP tags. 
“We recommend people check for available cars and book when they can so they can secure their trip to Malaysia,” said Mr ter Horst. 
Car-sharing firm Tribecar similarly faces issues with securing VEP tags. 
Almost 50 per cent of its fleet does not have the VEP and is unlikely to meet the Oct 1 deadline, said a spokesperson.  
“Some of our suppliers have encountered challenges with vehicles that were previously registered under different ownership or those that were registered in the past. These complications have slowed down the registration process.” 
The spokesperson said about 10 per cent of Tribecar’s customers rent cars to drive to Malaysia. 
He added that the firm will still allow customers to drive its cars across the border, given the announcements that non-VEP cars will only be issued a warning. 
But one car rental firm said it is classified as a commercial entity with commercial vehicles, which have special concessions and do not need to present a physical VEP tag yet. 
“As a significant percentage of hirers and customers do go to Malaysia regularly, we have started preparations and engagement with the relevant authorities since the first announcement,” said Lylo’s chief operations officer Chiam Soon Chian of his fleet, which numbers in the hundreds. 
“Our operations team ensured to apply the relevant permits for our fleet with Oct 1 timeline firmly in mind.” 
As such, he said the fleet is on track to be 100 per cent VEP-registered.
But that is not to say that all the vehicles will have a VEP tag by Oct 1. Some of the vehicles have been VEP-approved but the tags have not been shipped over. 
For these vehicles, they will be provided with a confirmation slip, where they will have to show to the Malaysian authorities along with the car’s log card and insurance. 
“We would be providing our customers with the necessary documentation required for entry as per the new policy,” said Mr Chiam.