PETALING JAYA: Malaysian laws do not penalise drivers of foreign-registered vehicles who buy subsidised fuel not intended for them, says the Petroleum Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM).

As such, these drivers would attempt to buy the fuel, often at odd hours, making monitoring and prevention difficult for petrol station staff, it said.

“We lack the legal means to report or penalise drivers of foreign-registered vehicles who buy subsidised fuel. It is even more difficult when the transaction involves the purchase of RON95 at the pump using a debit or credit card,” the PDAM said.

The association also urged the public to immediately inform petrol station workers of such cases instead of merely taking pictures and videos of foreign vehicles pumping RON95.

It said that cashiers at the fuel stations could halt transactions by deactivating the pump remotely.

A new video has emerged showing what seemed to be a foreign man driving a foreign-registered car getting the subsidised RON95 at a petrol station in Alor Gajah, Melaka, last Sunday.

The footage, which went viral, led to the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry opening an investigation paper on the petrol station operator.

The ministry’s Melaka director, Norena Jaafar, said the operator had claimed not to have seen the incident because the pump was partly obscured.

If found guilty, the petrol station operator could be fined up to RM1mil or jailed for up to three years, or both, under the law.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/06/23/pdam-laws-needed-to-penalise-foreigners-buying-ron95