20 litre fuel purchase cap is now NOT APPLICABLE for Singapore-Registered Vehicles

Its official!! Fuel Cap on Singapore-Registered Vehicles to 20 litres of Petrol in Malaysia!Ro Sma Rino Italian Restaurant, Johor Bahru

20 litre fuel purchase cap is APPLICABLE for Singapore-Registered Vehicles

December 19th, 2009 admin

At Limsimi.com, we are quite tired of all the last minute change in decision by the Malaysian Government on this topic. Will they ever make up their mind?

Sequence of Events:
9th Dec 2009 – The Malaysian Government hinted that Singapore registered vehicles will only be able to top up 20 litres of petrol and CANNOT depart the country with more than 20 litres of petrol in the fuel tank.

16th Dec 2009 – The Malaysian Government communicated that Singapore registered vehicles will only be able to top up 20 litres of petrol but CAN depart the country with more than 20 litres of petrol in the fuel tank.

17th Dec 2009 – The Malaysian Government communicated that Singapore registered vehicles CAN top up more than 20 litres of petrol and CAN depart the country with more than 20 litres of petrol in the fuel tank.

21st Dec 2009 – The Malaysian Government communicated that Singapore registered vehicles CANNOT top up more than 20 litres of petrol but CAN depart the country with more than 20 litres of petrol in the fuel tank.

25th Dec 2009 – The Malaysian Government communicated that Singapore registered vehicles CANNOT top up more than 20 litres of petrol (with the exception of Shell V-Power petrol) but CAN depart the country with more than 20 litres of petrol in the fuel tank. We are still scratching our heads why an exemption is granted to this particular petrol grade and to Shell only. Fishy!!

Limsimi.com - Notice on 20 Litre Petrol Cap in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

So there you have it. As of now, you CANNOT top more more than 20 litres of petrol but can leave JB with a full tank. See a related post here on the FAQ for such implementation.

See related news article below:

Mon, Dec 21, 2009
The Star/Asia News Network

By Farik Zolkepli

JOHOR BARU – Singapore-registered vehicles are not exempted from the 20-litre restriction on the purchase of petrol within 50km of the border.

Johor Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism department director Che Halim Abd Rahman said he was given a directive by the ministry that the ruling was in effect, a day after confirming Singaporeans were exempted.

On Wednesday, the department had announced that Singapore-registered vehicles were exempted from the ruling.

“A decision by the ministry confirms that the ruling is being imposed on foreign-registered cars, including Singaporean vehicles.

“The ministry’s mobile enforcement unit will monitor petrol stations to ensure the ruling is followed,” he told The Star yesterday.

However, Che Halim clarified that Singapore-registered vehicles would not be subjected to checks at the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex and Second Link.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad said the ministry’s decision was unfortunate.

“It is very confusing because one day, they decided not to impose the ruling but the next day they decided otherwise,” he said.

Shahrir said the ruling would only lead to unnecessary utilisation of ministry personnel.

“They will have to work beyond office hours. It will be very expensive for the Government to fund their deployment,” he added.

Johor Baru MCA Public Complaints Bureau deputy chief Michael Tay said the flip-flop on the ruling had confused the people, especially Singaporeans.

“If the ministry has made such a decision, then proper awareness must be made on the matter,” he said.

This debacle is YET another poorly thought out policy that was communicated to the public prematurely. The end result is confusion, waste of everyone’s time and the image of the Malaysian Government going down the drain again.

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25 Comments Add your own

1. admin | December 19th, 2009 at 5:18 PM

As an afternote, I went to Esso Petrol Station at Johor Bahru today. Halfway through topping up the tank, the meter was manually stopped by the station attendant. At this point, the meter reading was at 20.79 litres. Went to the payment counter and highlighted that there was no 20 litre cap – why is there a need to limit my fuel purchase? Answer given was – “Not sure”, “Play Safe”. I was then instructed to start the engine, go one round around the petrol station and I will be “eligible” for another 20 litre.

I simply drove off.

Went to the next available petrol station which was Caltex. Was told by the station attendant that I have to pay for 20 litre of petrol, pump, pay again for the next 20 litre and pump again. They wanted to cap me at 20 litre/transaction.

Looks like things are still confusing on the ground due to incompentency by the authorities in handling this matter.

Next up: GST by Malaysia Government due for 2011. I wonder how bad things will be for this one.
2. donn | December 19th, 2009 at 10:09 PM

do u know there are official not in uniform roaming every station to see if the paper was stick for all to see. i also heard kota tinggi station was warn n they obey the rules.
those who want to be smart n pump twice int he same place be warn they will catch one to show they r working soon.
3. donn | December 19th, 2009 at 10:14 PM

the sinchew paper have report a lot of car pumpinmg 40litre a tank at petrol station. what i know custom in sg close one eye in implement the 2quarter rules .that is why whenever there is off peak jam cars bikes all drive a fast one to jb to pump buy i smoke n go home.been happening for some time already .and they think the malaysian govt is sleeping .
4. B.L | December 20th, 2009 at 8:59 PM

Pump 27 litre and the attendent just look at me blindly upon payment.

No one is sure what is going on, and I do not see any enforcement officer or incidents. Just go ahead and fill up to your content.
5. Tek | December 21st, 2009 at 3:02 PM

It depends on whether the pump attendant want to enforce or not.

I went to shell near Taman Tebrau market (aka 大马花园), the guy actually did enforce. said can only pay the mount for 20 litres.
6. donn | December 21st, 2009 at 8:56 PM

well by now u knwo most station is enforce the 20litre. wat i know is plain cloth officer is checking on the quiet .those who try to be smart good luck to you.
2nk link station was warn on sat . some poor soul going to be ont he paper soon
7. Ray | December 21st, 2009 at 11:29 PM

Just returned this Monday 21 Dec 2009 evening. Most Station attached a 20 Litres Cap Notice at Pump for Singaporean to read. I pumped XX litres in Shell immediatel after JB Custom check point.
After Lunch n of travelling ard 20km in Tebrau n Taman Sentosa area. Pumped XX litres again B4 coming home.
8. X | December 21st, 2009 at 11:44 PM

Think SG cars are not exempted – http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20091221-187154.html
9. donn | December 27th, 2009 at 4:11 PM

i heard the IT dept ppl have start to measure up the petrol station in jb n they r ready to put some kinda gadget where only local who use ic can buy subsidy oil n the local have a limit which if u cross it u have to buy market rate . heard they may put 4rg a litre for foreign buyer.if your ic cant read they can type it .they will link this to jpj . if u have no car u wont have the subsidy.start may 2010 . with this scheme the big bike from sg also cant pump cheap oil. that ius what i heard from the boss of the petrol station in jb .
10. Chong Seng | December 27th, 2009 at 10:21 PM

Looks like there was a tweak – VPOWER Shell is exempted from this ruling. 20 litre cap is only applicable to RON95 and RON97 petrol. And only Shell sells VPOWER.

Our Bolehland government in Malaysia sure knows how to confuse everybody.

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

JOHOR BARU: Shell’s V-Power is exempted from the 20-litre restriction imposed on foreign vehicles on the purchase of petrol within 50km of the border.

Johor Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Department director Che Halim Abd Rahman said the department had received a new directive from the ministry on Thursday, stating that Shell V-Power was exempted.

“So only RON 95, RON 97 and diesel are included in the ruling.

“Shell V-Power is considered a premium grade of petrol,” he told The Star here yesterday.

He added that the new directive had been circulated to all departments nationwide.

During the first week of implementation of the 20-litre petrol cap, Che Halim said all petrol stations statewide had abided by the ruling.

“We have not received reports of anyone not following the ruling.

“All petrol stations have cooperated fully with the department,” he said, adding that its personnel were patrolling all stations in the state.

Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad said that the new development would complicate the issue.

“The fine-tuning of the ruling shows there are many weaknesses.

“I will leave it to the wisdom of the ministry to implement the ruling effectively,” said the former Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister
11. Lee | December 28th, 2009 at 12:37 PM

First of all, installing such gadgets to limit 20 lit for non-Malaysian cars and using the Malaysian IC to limit a certain amount of cap to each citizen is a huge and complicated project. Can you imagine each pump/POS is connected electronically to the JBJ / Malaysian govt central computers for updates – something close to the NETS paymts. Based on historical facts, I personally don’t think the MY Govt has the means (financial and technical) to launch this on a country-wide scale. Also, the busniness impact on tourism etc is going to hit MY businesses hard. Yeah, do it before CNY lah…
12. Admin | December 28th, 2009 at 1:17 PM

Hi Donn, those IT measures you mentioned are prob in the pipeline but implementation is still far off.

A Singaporean friend of mine once made a joke that if you receive a parking fine, you can crumble the slip and throw it away, because you would probably had changed your car by the time the authorities take any measures (linking jdk to customs). Extreme view but this reflects the reality that Malaysia IT infra is not quite there yet.

The alternative is a half-baked scheme which involves manual checks and processes but profiteering will set in.

We have to also question the urgency to implement this system when there are more pressing needs to address to enhance public convenience. For a start, maybe a traffic cam on major highways would be good, something similar to what we have on onemotoring.
13. Lee | December 28th, 2009 at 3:23 PM

Juz came back fm a jaunt across to JB this morning. Pumped Mobil. The bangla asked me “lagi..?” at 20 lit. I said “ok..”.. He looked around and carry on after resetting the pump and I got my full tank. Bottom line, everyone is selfish. Why muz they spread their petrol profits to other stations (cap at 20 lit each time).
14. don | December 28th, 2009 at 6:10 PM

last sat noon i saw with my own eye how little the car was in jb at the petrol pump.already business is affected . tman seri tebrau market is half open on weekday n open all on weekend only.
look like new year eve jb will be a ghost town in future .
15. Lee | December 28th, 2009 at 6:36 PM

Don,

It is not as though the MY govt tried this type of gimmicks for the first time. These guys “jiak par wu eng” (eat ardy and damn free” so muz do something to stir shit. Classic case of shooting themselves in the foot..Give them a few more weeks (nearer to CNY) and they’ll quietly withdraw the entire thing – once the towkays KPKB. First with V-Power..
16. charlene | December 29th, 2009 at 8:47 AM

It took 10 days for a measure that impacts all SG drivers to know what the MY government are up to. And most of it we only got the direct answer thru the internet which is not MY government homepage.
17. Keith Lim | December 31st, 2009 at 9:43 AM

It seems from the report on the SG newspaper saying that the 20l restriction does not apply for V-Power grade of petrol.

Not sure whether is this true or not.
18. Keith Lim | December 31st, 2009 at 10:01 AM

According to my friend who work in a petroleum company in Malaysia, the Malaysia Govn are forcing the poor petrol station owner to absorb the investment cost of purchasing the system and as well as all related equipments.

Many of them are pretty reluctant as looking at the situation, the MY Govn aren’t even sure whether the policy could be carried out efficiently with people Q’ing at the counter for subsidized petrol.
19. admin | January 1st, 2010 at 6:27 PM

HI Keith, it is true that V-Power grade are exempted from the 20l restriction. If you go to the Shell Station just outside the Johor Bahru CIQ, there is an explicit notice stating this exemption – effectively encouraging Singaporeans to pump all they want for V-Power.

This is extremely unfair to Mobile, Petronas, BHP and Caltex which do not carry V-Power.
20. donn | January 12th, 2010 at 4:27 PM

now polis jb busy catching sg car with summon after u exit the custom weekday 10am till noon . due to church bombing last weekend is a quiet one in jb
21. Mike | February 25th, 2010 at 5:06 PM

As of today, the 20 lit cap has been lifted. Najib has to come in to smash it up..read it in The Sun newspaper this morning.

No wonder the usual tattered malaysian govt letter glued to the Mobil petrol pump has been taken off.

Hahaha…malaysia boleh lah!!
22. admin | February 28th, 2010 at 9:33 PM

Hi Mike. this is not true and the cap had not been lifted. Notices are still pasted at MY petrol stations at borders.
23. Mike | March 2nd, 2010 at 6:17 PM

Yo, Admin..sure or not? It has appeared in their “The Sun” last Thurs edition. Also, the Esso/Mobil station juz before Carrefour Johor Jaya no more notices at the pumps and it was back to the good ol’ days liao..

No notice and pump not triggered to stop at 20 litres, juz carry on own time own target..
24. Chong Seng | March 2nd, 2010 at 11:44 PM

No lar, fuel cap still on. I just came in from JB and the notices at Caltex and Shell still.

What they annouce is the scraping of tiered subsidy from 1 May for Malaysians. Sporean still subject to 20lit cap.

M’sia scraps tiered grants
by THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER 05:55 AM Feb 25, 2010KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian government is looking at simpler ways to subsidise fuel for consumers after scrapping the proposed tiered fuel subsidies scheduled for May 1.

Industry sources said Putrajaya made the decision “recently” after complaints that the new subsidy system, where buyers have to show their identity card when making a purchase, could cause congestion at petrol stations and incur more costs for petrol dealers.

“Oil industry executives have been asked to stop implementing the tiered subsidy system as the government has stopped it,” an industry source told The Malaysian Insider.

A consultant working on the programme confirmed the move, saying “the decision was made fairly recently”. He added that the tiered subsidy system “was just too complex”.

Under the programme, motorists had to register using their Mykad, an identity card cum smart card, to purchase petrol at a subsidised rate.

Mr Hashim Othman, president of the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia, said that the system could lead to congestion as more time would be needed to verify the vehicle owner’s identity.

“People on the ground are worried that the thumbprint scan … may delay transactions and create congestion at petrol stations,” The Star quoted him as saying this week.

Petrol dealers complained that the system would lead to additional costs for them, diminishing their profits of 12 sen (5 cents) per litre for petrol and 7 sen per litre for diesel.

RON95-grade petrol is currently sold at RM1.80 a litre, RON97 and diesel at RM2.05 and RM1.70 a litre respectively.

The government has never announced the tiered fuel subsidy system, only saying that foreigners would not be eligible for subsidised prices.

There is speculation that the government will raise retail prices by 10 sen in the short-term while mulling proposals for a better subsidy system.

In 2007, the authorities raised retail prices until they peaked at RM2.70 a litre, leading to widespread protests and contributed to the ruling Barisan Nasional’s historic election losses in 2008.
25. admin | March 5th, 2010 at 1:38 PM

Thanks for your comments Chong Seng. The fuel cap is definitely still on for Singapore Registered Vehicles in JB, for now.

KL scraps unpopular fuel scheme

THE Malaysian government has scrapped its plan to introduce a two-tiered fuel scheme that would have rationed subsidies and ended them altogether for some drivers, following negative feedback from the public.

Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the government nixed the planned subsidy restructuring as it did not want to implement an important policy that did not have the people’s support.

Some analysts suggested that the move may mean that polls are imminent in the important East Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri told a press conference yesterday: “Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that this is the people’s government… Today, the government has proven that this is not mere rhetoric and that it is true to its word.

“We have heard the people’s voice and, now, we have proven that we are willing to scrap the plan because the people do not want it to be done.”

Mr Ismail Sabri said that the price of fuel remained the same for now, as “there is no directive to announce a petrol-price hike. I don’t know when that will happen, but the public must remember that the fuel price fluctuates”.

Last year, the government forked out RM3.4 billion (S$1.4 billion) to subsidise petrol and another RM1.9 billion to subsidise diesel. Fuel-subsidy cuts were a cornerstone of Datuk Seri Najib’s plans to cut the budget deficit to 5.6 per cent of gross domestic product this year, from an over-20-year high of 7.4 per cent last year.

The government had wanted to introduce a management system for the fuel subsidy, as it felt the subsidy did not fully benefit the intended target groups and that even owners of foreign-registered vehicles were enjoying it.Make a Mark in Your Career with a Top UK Hons Degree at Kaplan

The plan, originally set to be implemented on May 1, was to introduce a tiered pricing system for petrol, depending on engine capacity, while foreigners would have to pay the market price.

It called for the mandatory use of the national identity card, known as MyKad, to differentiate Malaysians from foreigners, requiring a need for MyKad readers at petrol stations.

Subsidised petrol for each vehicle owner would have been capped, with the subsidy rate determined by engine capacity.

The subsidy was to have been limited to motorists whose vehicles had a maximum engine capacity of 2,000cc. Owners of cars with bigger engine capacities would not have qualified for a subsidy.

On the matter of foreigners, Mr Ismail Sabri said that “in the meantime, foreigners can still purchase petrol according to the pump price, but the policy governing foreigners when purchasing petrol at the border areas remains”.

He added: “My ministry will propose to the Cabinet a certain policy to control the purchase of subsidised fuel among foreigners, because we need to ensure that the subsidy goes to the targeted group.”

Last December, the government announced that foreignregistered vehicles would be allowed to pump only a maximum of 20 litres of fuel at petrol stations within a 50km radius of the border.
Mr Ismail Sabri dismissed talk that the restructuring plan had not been viable because it would have been difficult to implement, claiming that a study conducted showed that it could be done without much hassle and inconvenience, and did not result in a long wait for consumers whose MyKads had to be scanned.