Puspakom no longer sole provider of routine vehicle inspection services

PUTRAJAYA - Periodic inspection services will be open to any qualified party after Puspakom's concession expires on Aug 31, 2024.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the matter was decided during the Cabinet meeting on March 17.

"This meant that Puspakom will no longer be the sole provider of motor vehicle routine inspection services for the Road Transport Department (RTD) from Sept 1, 2024," he said in a press conference, here, today.

He said the process to invite parties interested was expected to be made by the first quarter of next year.

"The ministry with the RTD will develop qualification requirements, operating rules, service scopes, inspection locations and guidelines for interested parties," he said.

Loke said to ensure uniformity of rules and fairness in terms of competition, interested parties will be required to comply with the same conditions and rules that have been imposed on Puspakom under the Concession Agreement.

"This includes requiring employees to meet specified qualification requirements as well as providing and using computerised inspection equipment regulated and approved by the RTD," he said.

He said the inspection fee could only be charged according to the rates that have been fixed and services for repair or modification and sale of spare parts were prohibited..

The RTD, he said will continuously audit and monitor all parties providing the services to ensure compliance, quality and inspection integrity.

"Any parties caught violating the conditions may be subjected to a penalty or have their approval to carry out inspections revoked," he said.

Regarding the current Puspakom Concession Agreement which was extended for 15 years in 2009, the Cabinet agreed to extend the agreement for the same period effective Sept 1, 2024 by improving the existing agreement terms.

"This decision took into account that Puspakom has carried out the inspection function on behalf of RTD well and met the service quality set," he said.

However, Puspakom was asked to implement several improvements including improving the booking process and customer complaints in addition to installing closed circuit camera (CCTV) systems at checkpoints.

Asked whether there will be several service operators, Loke said it has yet to be determined.

"After the concession is over there will no longer be a monopoly, there can be two or more companies," he said.