Police Proposes Use Of Number Plates With Security Chips in Curbing Crime

As one of the effective measures to reduce the rate of criminal cases, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) proposes that vehicles in Malaysia be standardized with a standard registration number combined with a security chip (e-plate).

According to the Director of the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (JSJ), Datuk Huzir Mohamed, the use of this system is proposed to the government as an effort to keep up with technological changes and to deal with increasingly sophisticated and challenging crimes.

"It is time for our country to use a standardized registration number equipped with a security chip or plate which has long been used in developed countries other than Singapore and Thailand.

"If we look, standard registration numbers with security chips are used in Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos but we still use a variety of registration numbers, including 'fancy' registration numbers and so on.

"If the use of registration numbers is standardized, it can prevent crime. It is difficult for individuals or criminals to make fake registration numbers and so on because it is streamlined and only one body or department makes registration numbers.

"In addition, it will increase efficiency and reduce non-compliance of road users, including non-compliance with traffic lights," he said in the PDRM talk show program published by Bernama TV entitled 'Crime Trends During the COVID-19 Pandemic' recently.

He also added that the use of e-plates can reduce car theft cases which is the highest crime in the country.

According to reports from 2016, the JPJ aimed to have a standardized vehicle number plate scheme in place by 2017. The following year, a similar plan to implement electronic plates was presented, with the embedded chip containing information about the vehicle owner and driver, as well as vehicle specifics like engine and chassis numbers, color, and model.

A chipped registration plate will allow enforcement officers to check information of a vehicle without having to flag down the driver using a handheld or dashboard-mounted chip reader. A device like this will help police locate delinquent motorists who refuse to pay their summonses, in addition to aiding authorities in the battle against auto theft and car cloning. 

According to him, they have proposed the proposal to the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and the Ministry of Transport for consideration.