Land Tranport Department must make public whether it intends to introduce car plates with chip

DAP National Deputy Chairman and MP for Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw calls for the Land Transport Department to announce whether it intends to introduce vehicle plate with smart chip, preceded by the amendment to the Transport Act.

On 27.6.2010, Dr Tan commented on media report on the proposed use of car plate with smart chip or chipped car plate.

Vehicular transport is essential. Hence, the Road Transport Department plays an important part. 2010 budget for land transport is RM312,386,000, from which enforcement is about RM 85 million. We hope that the department has reasonable measures to improve road transport in the country.

If smart chip is installed in car plate, the authority can extract personal data. How much will each chipped plate cost? RM150? Will an offender be fined RM2000 or banned from driving 20 years? These may cause controversy. RM150 per chipped plate may be considered too expensive. Acquisition of personal data may be deemed invasion of privacy. Will the appointment of companies that make chipped plates be based on cronyism?

If the Government has decided to implement chipped plate, it should reveal the details, avoiding guesswork by the public. Then, we can give evidence-based views.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw