Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 2, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The ministry of transportation (MoT) will make a decision on the review of the concession for Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre (Puspakom Sdn Bhd) by year end, according to its Deputy Transport Minister Kamarudin Jaffar.

“It is the cabinet’s decision to review so many things [including] high-cost projects and, among other things, monopolies. And it so happened that the service of automotive inspection through Puspakom is a form of monopoly,” Kamarudin said to reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Additionally, Kamarudin said MoT will look into aspects such as implications in terms of legislation and the finance of Puspakom’s concession.

He said MoT is planning to give out more licences for car inspection services, which, he noted, is one of the possibilities to counter the monopoly under Puspakom. Puspakom’s concession will end on Aug 31, 2024.

At this juncture, Kamarudin said there is yet to be a conclusive decision on whether Puspakom will remain the sole car inspection services provider in future.

In June, it was reported that the cabinet had set up a four-man committee to tackle the issue of monopoly in three ministries — the ministry of agriculture and agro-based industry, the ministry of health and MoT.

The committee will be headed by Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, with Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub and Minister of Health Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad as members.

Kamarudin was responding to Labis member of parliament Pang Hok Liong’s question on whether the ministry is ready to grant more licences to other companies to compete with Puspakom to improve the quality of vehicle inspection.

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