In a bid to combat cloned vehicles and other vehicular crimes, the police force has put forward a proposal for number plates to be standardised with an e-plate that’s equipped with a security microchip to prevent cloning.
This is according to Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director, Datuk Huzir Mohamed, who mentioned the e-plate among a slew of suggestions forwarded by the force to the road transport department (JPJ) and transport ministry.
Many of our regional neighbours such as Thailand and Singapore have long since implemented a standard registration plate with a microchip within it. Even Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam have standardised plates although they lack microchips. Malaysia still lacks behind with non-standardised plates and fancy fonts.
Regulating the plates will help combat crime such as vehicle cloning seeing that criminals won’t be able to clone the plates easily. Right now, it’s possible to walk into any car accessory shop and have them make a plate for you.
If the plates are regulated and standardised with a microchip, only registered or designated bodies will be able to create and programme the e-plate.
This isn’t the first time that standardised plates or e-plates have been tabled. Back in 2017, a similar motion saw the idea floated with the e-plate microchip containing vehicle information such as the model, chassis number and engine number as well as the owner’s details.
Lastly, the microchip would enable enforcement officers to scan the plates for said information via a reader without having to pull over the vehicle.