Traffic offenders owe govt RM2.7b

Traffic offenders who were issued 16,529,848 summonses from 2000 to 2008 have not settled their summons totalling RM2.7 billion, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri told the Dewan Rakyat.

Of the summonses issued, he said on Wednesday, June 30 the largest number was issued by the police at 15,220,358, the Road Transport Department (470,983) and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (838,507), he said.

"Summons issued since last year are considered active," said Abdul Rahim when answering a question from Mohd Nor Othman (BN-Hulu Terengganu) in Dewan Rakyat.

Mohd Nor had wanted to know how many summons had not been settled until April 2010.

Abdul Rahim said to ensure traffic offenders promptly settled the outstanding summons, steps taken included barring the renewal of road tax and driving licences under Section 115 of the Road Transport Act 1987.

Other measures included allocating RM282 million to upgrade the RTD's computerised systems, to increase its capacity and efficiency to collect outstanding summons and compounds, effectively.

"We have also set up online systems to cancel blacklisted cases with links from other agencies, especially police, as well as set up a one-stop centre for settling summonses online and through credit cards," he said.

Meanwhile, in reply to a suggestion by Datuk Mohamed Aziz (BN-Sri Gading) that such summonses annulled, Abdul Rahim said the suggestion would not be considered.

"Settling summonses is not only a form of income to the government but will also serve as a reminder to traffic offenders that they should be more careful on roads," he said. - Bernama