Loke open to BJAK becoming JPJ’s strategic partner
Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said JPJ approval must first be obtained by a platform before it could charge for road tax renewal services. (Bernama pic)
SEPANG: Transport minister Loke Siew Fook is open to BJAK becoming a strategic partner to the road transport department (JPJ), but the insurance platform must go through the proper channels.
BJAK must officially apply to become JPJ’s strategic partner, Loke said.
“We are not against having strategic partnerships with third parties or the private sector.
“If they can convince us to become our partner, then we have no objection to them,” he told reporters after attending a groundbreaking ceremony for Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Castlefield here, today.
On Monday, JPJ said neither it nor the transport ministry had authorised BJAK to offer road tax renewal services.
The department said a statement posted on BJAK’s website that online road tax renewals at BJAK had been audited, verified, and approved by JPJ was “untrue and misleading”.
JPJ also said it had received complaints from the public that while their road tax renewals had been processed through the BJAK website, the validity period of their road tax was not updated.
It had also received complaints about additional fees charged by BJAK for road tax renewals.
BJAK later said it acknowledged the “issues” raised by JPJ and said road tax renewal was an optional service for its customers, with its primary service being auto insurance comparison and renewal.
It said its road tax renewal service was offered to customers free of charge as part of an initiative to make renewals more convenient and cost-effective.
Loke went on to defend JPJ over its statement, saying it was necessary to avoid any confusion on the department’s links to BJAK.
He said for a platform to charge for road tax renewal services, it must first obtain JPJ’s approval.
“We don’t want some company to simply launch and announce that they can do certain services for government departments without our knowledge. Then, we wouldn’t know their SOP and so on.”