20-litre ruling takes effect now

THE ban on the sale of petrol and diesel over 20 litres to foreign cars within a radius of 50km from any point of entry into the country will take effect today.

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the ban, which was aimed at preventing the smuggling of petrol and diesel, would be in place until a new mechanism for the management of oil subsidy is implemented in May next year.

“Directives have been issued to all petrol stations in the stipulated areas on the new ruling. We have also issued notices to all foreign-registered vehicles in the country informing them of the new regulation,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

With the ruling, he said, only Singapore-registered vehicles were allowed to leave Malaysia with more than 20 litres in their tanks as the authorities in the republic had already imposed a ruling that all vehicles crossing its borders must have their tanks at least three-quaters full of fuel.

However, he said, if these vehicles needed to refuel within the 50km radius of the Singapore-Malaysia border, they were allowed to buy not more than 20 litres of fuel.

“There are almost 500 petrol stations operating near the borders in the north and south of the country. We will place our officers in these areas and if any of the stations is found to have violated this regulation, stringent action will be taken against it,” he said.

Under the Supply Control Act 1974, any individual who violate its regulations could be fined up to RM10,000 or jailed for up to three years or both while for a company (petrol station), the penalty is it could be a fine of up to RM250,000 and/or its licence revocation.