KOTA KINABALU: Motorists have complained of high motorcycle ownership transfer fee imposed by the Road Transport Department (RTD). They do not understand why the charge is only RM3 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM5 in Sarawak but RM40 in Sabah.
Luyang assemblyman Hiew King Cheu, who received the complaints, said the vehicle transfer fees structure set by the RTD was fair and reasonable.
For motorcars and jeeps it is RM40 for Sabah and Sarawak, but for Peinsular Malaysia it is RM100. As for commercial vehicles, the fee is the same throughout Malaysia at RM40.
But Hiew said many motorcycle owners are not happy that they have to pay more when compared to the other parts of Malaysia. The fees should be standardised and if not, lowered in Sabah.
The motorists opined that smaller motorcycles should not be charged the same ownership transfer fee of RM40 in Sabah as a 30-ton truck or a motorcar.
They accused the RTD of being unfair to the motorcyclists by charging such high fee.
Hiew checked with RTD and was told by an officer to refer to Parliament because the department did not set the amount of fees chargeable. Any change to the fees have to be made by Parliament.
However, Hiew urged RTD to look into the situation and find a solution to reduce the ownership transfer fee for motorcycles to the same amount like those in Peninsular or Sarawak.