PETALING JAYA: It will be back to driving school for motorists nabbed with expired driving licences after June 30, says the Malaysian Association of Driving Institutes (Pima).
The move came following a reminder by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) for motorists with expired driving licences of between one and three years to renew it before the end of this month, failing which it would be revoked.
“Under the law, a competent driving licence (CDL) for car drivers, although expired, can be renewed within three years from the date of its expiry.
“After the three-year period, the driving licence is considered ‘legally dead’ and the holder must retake the driving test again to obtain a new one,” Pima president Mat Aris Bakar said when contacted.
He said usually, drivers who are nabbed with expired licences would only face a fine but would still be able to renew them.
“However, after June 30, they will not only be fined but the licences will be revoked if they are found to be driving with expired licences of between one and three years,” he said.
Mat Aris said motorists have been enjoying the leeway given to renew their driving licences for the past two years.
“The JPJ is merely following the law on the three-year period given for drivers to renew their expired driving licence.
“The reminder is timely to avoid motorists from losing their licences altogether after June 30,” he said.
Recently, the JPJ announced that those with expired CDL of between one and three years would have to renew their licences by June 30.
This also applies to the expiry of learner’s driving licences (LDL) of more than a year, probationary driving licences of more than two years and public service vehicle and goods driving licences of more than three years.
The moratorium to renew expired driving licences was implemented following the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO) in March 2020.
Since then, several extensions were given with the final extension given to drivers to renew their expired licences before December 31 last year.
Based on JPJ records, a total of 2,184,508 driving licences have yet to be renewed between March 18 and June when the MCO was implemented in 2020.
Akademi Propandu Sdn Bhd operations manager Lim Shu Sin said those with LDL of more than a year would have to complete and pass their driving test before June 30 as the validity is for two years.
“We have been calling up our LDL students to complete their driving test before the deadline or else, they will also lose their licences,” she said.
Despite the reminder, Lim said some of their students were likely to miss the deadline due to work commitments or relocation.
Reference: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/06/16/licence-expired-go-back-to-school