KUCHING: Police here have issued over RM2 million worth of compounds to 7,243 motorists for using fancy license plates, which can confuse authorities and cause innocent ones to be falsely summoned.
Kuching police chief ACP Ahsmon Bajah when met by reporters yesterday (Feb 9), said the figure is dated since 2021 until February this year in Kuching district alone.
Such an offence can be compounded between RM300 to RM3,000 under Section 14(4) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
“From the figure of vehicles compounded since 2021, it equals to RM2.17 million worth of compounds.
“This is a serious offence because it is against the law and it also confuses the authorities such as the Road Transport Department (JPJ) and other agencies.
“In addition, these motorists are indirectly causing the innocent ones to be falsely summoned due to their fancy license plates.
“They (motorists with fancy license plates) are supposed to be the ones compounded but, other people get the end of the hook because of their fancy and confusing license plates,” he said after visiting an ‘Op Khas Nombor Pendaftaran’ police roadblock at Jalan Song here.
Ahsmon shared that they recorded 48 cases of criminals using fancy, confusing and fake license plates in Kuching.
“We have seized 28 vehicles and the suspects have already been convicted of their crimes.
“These are among the negative effects of using fancy plate numbers,” he said.
On the operation yesterday, the police issued compounds to 23 vehicles after the operation started at 2 pm.
He said such operation to curb and eradicate the usage of fancy, confusing and blurry plate numbers will be carried out continuously around the district.
“Despite the police issuing a lot of compounds for such an offence, we still notice that such an issue is rampantly increasing,” he said.
