Its official!! Fuel Cap on Singapore-Registered Vehicles to 20 litres of Petrol in Malaysia!

New Directive: Singapore Cars can only pump 20 Litres Petrol in Malaysia20 litre fuel purchase cap is APPLICABLE for Singapore-Registered Vehicles

Its official!! Fuel Cap on Singapore-Registered Vehicles to 20 litres of Petrol in Malaysia!

December 15th, 2009 admin

The dreaded date has finally come.

Starting 16th Dec 2009, Singapore Registered Vehicles can only pump up to a maximum of 20 litres of petrol in Malaysia (including Johor Bahru). This means that the petrol stations in Malaysia/Johor Bahru will only allow you to pump up to 20 litres of petrol. Failing which, petrol stations can be fined up to RM250,000 while you can be fined up to RM100,000 if you do not adhere to the new ruling.

In our earlier posting here, we highlighted concerns on how the a poorly implemented ruling can cause confusion and inconvenience to owners of Singapore-Registered vehicles.

At Limsimi.com, we now compile some of the frequently asked questions and hope to provide an insight of what you can expect in Johor Bahru starting tomorrow. It is indeed a sad day for owners of Singapore-Registered vehicles.

Q: How can the ruling be enforced? I can just pump petrol beyond 20 litres and no one will really know.
A: Plain-clothes enforcement officers will be deployed to petrol stations in border towns, including Johor Bahru. They will be authorised to issue summon while can lead to a RM100,000 fine for you.

Q: It is easy for me to “play trick”. I can just pump 20 litres and go to another petrol station to pump another 20 litres of petrol until my fuel tank is full.
A: You might possible get away with that for now, while the dust has not really settled. We do not discount the measure by the Malaysian government to close up this loophole in the medium term.

Q: Really, do I need to exit Malaysia with only 20 litres of Petrol?
A: The Malaysian Government are sensitive enough not to apply this measure to Singapore-Registered Vehicles. So you can leave Johor Bahru with a full tank without any concerns. Unless the Government do an about-turn (unlikely).

Q: Where will the fuel cap ruling not apply in Malaysia?
A: 50 km from border. Means you count 50km from the Johor Bahru CIQ. There is no official list of exempted petrol stations, so you use your own judgement and pray that you are really outside the 50km zone.

Q: Shouldn’t petrol stations be responsible to make sure I do not top up beyond 20 litres?
A: This ruling comes like lightning and caught everyone unprepared. Petrol Stations will not be ready to take on this responsibility – the new processes and infrastructure to control the 20 litre cap is not defined. So the onus is still on you to advert a sticky situation with the enforcement officers.

Q: Why this stupid measure????
A: The aim is really intended up North near the Thai Border where petrol smuggling are rampant. Singapore is the lesser evil but I guess the Malaysian Government has long wanted to implement this measure to prevent fuel subsidies to be enjoyed by Singaporeans too.

Q: 20 litres, enough or not?!
A: For most cars, 20 litres of fuel is still a decent 30% of the petrol tank capacity. For those very fuel efficient vehicles, it is actually enough for you to make a one way trip from Johor Bahru to KL! Therefore, this new ruling does not really affect most owners of Singapore-Registered vehicles IF they have been adhering to the 3/4 tank rule by Singapore before departure. The bigger concern over all these hoo-haa are on implementation measures by Malaysian authorities which might lead to confusion and worries on profiteering by enforcement officers and petrol station owners.

Q: Hasn’t anyone spoken out against this?
A: The MP of Johor (Senior Johor politician Shahrir Sama) is against this. It is a natural reaction as we all the know impact to Johor Bahru tourism. He is not the only one though. The team at limsimi.com, our readers and I am sure most Singaporeans and Malaysian PRs are against this too! In fairness, it is a measure by the government to keep subsidies to Malaysians and Malaysians only. Most Singaporeans will probably get used to this ruling over time and it will be back to business as usual within weeks.

Q: What can you expect in the next coming days?
A: Confusion, frustration and disappointment for people across both sides of the causeway. Business in JB might dip as Singaporeans have less incentive to travel to Johor Bahru. There might be cases of profiteering from enforcement officers (corruption), petrol station owners and con-men who impose themselves as the legitimate enforcement officers.

Q: So what should I do?
A: Stay tuned to Limsimi.com as we bring you more updates in the coming days.

Q: Any other useful information?
A: Time to dig out your misplaced Singapore Shell, Mobile and SPC points cards. You are going to use it more frequently now!

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Entry Filed under: News and Information

13 Comments Add your own

1. Win365 | December 15th, 2009 at 11:16 PM

My 2 Cents – If you can afford SG car, should be able to afford SG petrol. Time to move on..

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2. LC | December 16th, 2009 at 8:48 AM

I heard it also apply to Malaysia registered car which travel to Singapore… How true it is?

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3. Hum Bin | December 16th, 2009 at 9:27 AM

No, ruling does not apply to MY cars at all.

I guess most people travel to MY with slightly over 1/2 tank (instead of 3/4) tank over the weekend. Becos of this, people can top up to 30litre of petrol. So this 20litre cap is kinda like a restriction that is felt by these people. Nothing much can be done now that the rule is stated. I am waiting to see how they can enforce this and when the 1st case of RM100,000 fine is imposed.

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4. Peter | December 16th, 2009 at 9:28 AM

It seems to me that the new enforcement is about how much fuel in foreign vehicles, and not how much fuel a foreign vehicle can be pumped. I assume a car with 3/4 fuel (>20 litres in car) will violate the new rule if trying to pump fuel at the affected petrol kiosks. It is 20-litre fuel ‘CAP’ on foreign vehicles. Btw, this is how I interpret from the news, hope someone can clarify.

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5. BabySeal | December 16th, 2009 at 9:41 AM

There is exemption on SG-registered cars from the 20 litre cap rule while leaving Malaysia borders, it’s only applicable to the Thai border.

For Malaysians who are SG-PRs driving SG car to work every day, it’s quite a relief that the initially-stupid 20litre cap is taken away. For those who pump every day, and if have a 40 – 60 litre tank car, 20 litres should be enough to make up a full tank ( s long as you comply with the 3/4 tank rule while leaving SG)

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6. Jayson | December 16th, 2009 at 11:12 AM

In short, no need for sg car to leave msia with max
of 20 litre of petrol, but sg car can only top up 20 litre of petrol. I have no idea how the government can enforce this.

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7. Peter | December 16th, 2009 at 11:35 AM

If a SG car already has more than 20 litres of fuel, can it pump 20 more litres of fuel at the affected petrol kiosks?

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8. Jayson | December 16th, 2009 at 10:25 PM

Can.. I just tried it 3 hrs ago

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9. Keith Lim | December 17th, 2009 at 1:26 PM

The petrol stations in JB today put up notice that the 20l restriction does not apply to Singapore cars.

Purchase at will.

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10. B C | December 21st, 2009 at 7:02 AM

These stupid fuel subsidies will DROWN the nation, SINK the world.

Incr CO2 emissions> Incr Global warming> polar Ice melts> Sea levels rise up to 70m> greater Human disaster fr floods/ tsunamis, sea water flooded farms grow no food> disaster survivors starve to death.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming )

Are govts prepared for exigencies e.g. Tsunami where even lightly hit Malaysia had problems attending to those affected: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4100030.stm , terrorist strikes/ Religious separatism/ Infectious disease outbreaks etc.

Fuel subsidy is a stop gap measure to quickly boost jobs and GDP, however this is is both socially and environmentally unsustainable. Money should be spent on educational, health care, sustainable agricultural, telecommunications/ internet and rail infrastructure for a better environment and a more sustainable livelihood for all.

As stated, these stupid fuel subsidies will only DROWN the nation, SINK the world.
Hope their charges know better and VOTE THEM OUT soon before we all drown in salty water.

Please wake up, danger is near, learn how to swim and catch your own fish.

Good day:).

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11. Lee | December 27th, 2009 at 10:09 PM

Now the latest is that Shell V-Power is exempted from the 20 lit cap. So can pump V-Power until shiok2. What this means is that all SG cars go for Shell V-Power. Shell must have given MY Govt some kopi money..??

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12. Chong Seng | December 27th, 2009 at 11:05 PM

i heard before that shell outside JB CIQ is owned by Johor royalty, not sure true or not.

Why VPower so special? I am sure the gov also subsidize vpower. Why they want to exempt vpower??

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13. donn | January 7th, 2010 at 3:53 PM

yes u r right shell at ciq is belong tot he royal family of johor . caltex at the old ciq also belong to them .shell v power is not subsided thats y they allow unlimited pump

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