MOTORISTS FUMING OVER SHORTAGE

Service disruption to continue for at least another month

ASUPPLY problem is wreaking havoc on motorists in the Klang Valley, and at least in another part of the country, who want to renew their road tax.

Those trying to renew their road tax at appointed agents in the Klang Valley and Penang have been told to go to Road Transport Department (RTD) branches instead, but even these branches are running out of road tax stickers.

It has not been determined if any other part of the country is experiencing the problem.

An RTD spokesman told the New Straits Times the service disruption, which has been ongoing since last month, was due to issues experienced by the contractor responsible for supplying the stickers.

He said the disruption was expected to continue for at least another month.

“The contractor’s main component of a printing machine was previously damaged, which resulted in a failure to print the serial numbers and other safety features of the road tax stickers.

“Due to this, they (the contracted company) are forced to produce more than the usual 50,000 copies of the road tax stickers daily. Furthermore, they are also experiencing a shortage of materials, and are waiting for the shipment of their new stock to arrive.”

The spokesman added that the current supply stock of road tax stickers was low, forcing the department to prioritise the distribution of the items to its branches.

“Due to demand from the public, RTD can no longer create a buffer stock and is forced to distribute the supply stock immediately after it arrives.

“The emphasis is now on supplying RTD branches.

“Business partners will have to wait,” he said, adding that the department required at least 50,000 stickers daily to meet demand.

The spokesman said the situation had forced the department to prioritise those whose road tax had expired or would expire within a few days.

Following complaints from the public, RTD had issued a statement on July 14 saying that it has taken action to distribute 20,000 road tax stickers to the Selangor RTD branch, 20,000 to the Federal RTD branch, 40,000 to Pos Malaysia Bhd and 5,000 to MyEG.