Are volunteer fire and rescue vehicles exempted from paying highway toll in Malaysia?

The recent devastating floods have galvanised Malaysians to provide aid and support to victims in the past week. Some have taken the time and effort to travel interstate to provide assistance including “Abang Viva“. Recently, there’s a viral video on TikTok showing what appears to be a group of volunteer fire and rescue members from Persatuan Kebajikan Komuniti Tanjong Pulau Pinang (PKKT) arguing about toll exemption at a toll both.

@_bombasukarela_ pegi selangor bantuan habis semua nak balik Penang KL toll tahan kenapa？#malaysia #kl #selangor Balik #Penang #bantuan #bombasukarela #balik #tahan ♬ 原聲 – P.Q – Bomba

In the 32 second clip, the toll highway staff explained that only official fire and rescue (BOMBA) vehicles under the government are exempted from paying toll. She added that even Auxiliary Police (Polis Bantuan) and Prison Department vehicles have to pay for toll. There’s also another longer 6 minute video of the incident posted on Facebook.

After the video went viral, highway concessionaire, Plus Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) has issued a response on the matter. According to PLUS, the exemption of toll charges is only granted to official vehicles of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Fire and Rescue Department (BOMBA), and ambulance on duty based on the provision of the concession agreement with the government.

On Thursday evening, the volunteer fire and rescue TikTok account had posted a video that showed an email from ANIH Berhad providing approval to exempt volunteer fire and rescue vehicles from paying toll. ANIH is the highway concessionaire for Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway (KLK) and the East Coast Expressway 1 (LPT1).

Responding to the recent events, the Facebook page of the Fire and Rescue volunteers of Taman Sri Serdang has posted a statement insisting that vehicles gazetted as emergency vehicles are exempted from toll charges. The page has also attached a letter by the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) dated December 2019 stating that non-government vehicles used for fire and rescue efforts must be exempted from paying toll.

It appears that LLM’s letter was issued after a similar toll incident took place on the NPE in November 2019. The post added that fire and rescue volunteers serve the public for free while Auxiliary Police could pay the toll and their companies will bear the cost.

The Rakyat Post has recently reached out to PKKT, the volunteer group involved in the recent video. The spokesperson said its volunteers have always been exempted from paying toll in Penang when they are out on volunteerism duty. They said perhaps it has not been clearly outlined if the exemption applies to toll plazas nationwide. The spokesperson also said the Fire and Rescue Department had taken note of the matter and will discuss it at the federal level in Putrajaya.

[ VIA ]