This measure aims to prevent the increasing incidents of vehicle theft and registration card forgery in the country.
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A biometric card in the UK. |
By the end of this year, vehicle owners in Malaysia will receive a chip-embedded biometric card when renewing their road tax.
The biometric card, the size of a credit card, will include details and the thumbprint of the vehicle owner, along with vehicle information. Personal details will be connected to the Malaysian National Registration Department to combat registration fraud.
According to Malaysia’s Minister of Transport, Chan Kong Choy, the biometric card will facilitate safer and easier vehicle registration for owners. The biometric card will function like an ATM card, allowing vehicle owners to renew their driver’s licenses and road taxes without needing to visit the tax office.
At the same time, the biometric registration card will help reduce incidents of theft and forgery of vehicle registration documents. Currently, there are a total of 15 million registered vehicles in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, according to the General Insurance Association of Malaysia, in 2000, an average of 2.3 million vehicles were stolen every hour. By 2004, the number of stolen vehicles had increased tenfold, with a total value exceeding 750 million RM (Malaysian Ringgit).
Vu Minh Thuong
