Loke mingling with members of the media after announcing the phased rollout of the digital road tax today. — Photo from facebook.com/motmalaysia/
PETALING JAYA: The move to abolish the need to display road tax received mixed reactions from social media users.In the comment box of Transport Minister Anthony Loke’s Facebook post, a significant number of users lauded the minister for the move.
"Awesome work and we're proud that we are systematically moving forward," Facebook user Bernie Victor said.
"Good job, YB. Thank you for listening to the rakyat," another user wrote.
However, some users also want the minister to look into the quality of the mobile app as most have found that it did not work well.
"Dear YB, the site (app) definitely needs to improve in many aspects. (It) is slow, crashes during registration; now when I want to reset the password, the TAC code takes forever (to be sent to email)," said a user.
"Most importantly, make sure the system servers are able to take in such a volume of users, because as of now, it has kept buffering and unable to receive the TAC; also there is no clear instructions or help desk to assist users," said Facebook user Kenny Kaz.
On Twitter, social media users questioned how would the authorities ensure that motorists have renewed their road tax without having to stop them one by one.
"So, how will the police make sure that the driver has a valid road tax? Does it mean the authorities need to stop them individually?" Twitter user Aiman asked.
E-hailing driver Junaidi Annuar, 63, said the move was commendable as it would reduce the hassle for drivers.
"Of course, it’s a good move! The physical stickers were so fragile, sometimes I ended up accidentally tearing it to pieces.
"Having a digital one would be more convenient," he said, adding that he would not need to deal with the stains each time removing the old sticker from the windshield.
Nadiahtul Azwa, 28, agreed that it would be easier with the new digitalisation effort but also shared her concern on having to install another government mobile application.
"I liked the idea of not having to stick to the physical road tax anymore.
"But it also means that we need to install another mobile application on top of other applications. I hope there will be a way for the government to streamline this issue," she added.
She also said how will the authorities ensure that drivers have renewed their road tax if there was no need to display it.
Earlier today, Loke announced that private vehicle owners do not need to deal with messy road tax stickers from today once they have gotten their digital version of the road tax.
He said that the digital display of motor vehicle road tax stickers (LKM) and Malaysian driving licences (LMM) would be the solution to the constant complaints of vehicle owners and drivers.
