KUALA LUMPUR: THE Road Transport Department on Monday released the list of ceiling fees for driving courses, effective Sept 1.
RTD director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad said driving schools and institutes needed to adhere to the new rates which came into effect in line with the implementation of the new Drivers’ Education Curriculum.
He said the new fees would see students being charged not more than RM350 for a B2 class licence, RM900 (B full class), RM1,150 (D class-manual) and RM1,250 (D class-automatic).
The New Straits Times had previously reported that the current fee ranged from between RM350 and RM400 for a B2 class licence, RM600 to RM800 (B full class) and RM1,200 to RM1,400 (D class-manual).
However, Ismail said the fees announced were not inclusive of transport costs.
“The transport cost will be charged at 50 sen per km. Let’s say the distance of the learner’s home is 30km from the school, then it will cost him RM30 per session attended,” he said, adding that the final cost would differ for each learner according to their location.
Ceiling fees, Ismail said, meant controlled prices, where driving schools could not charge more than the rates given and said that there were some schools which might charge lower fees.
He added that since Sept 1, RTD officers had also been monitoring driving schools and institutes to ensure they did not impose higher fees.
Malaysian Driving Institute Association president Mat Aris Bakar said driving schools had been notified of the ceiling fees list.
“The guidelines that we received also stated that although it was a ceiling price, it was understood that schools were allowed to impose additional costs depending on their services.”
Mat Aris said a learner would have to come by the centre for classes and training for approximately 12 times and this usually meant having to pay RM360 for his or her additional transportation cost (of 30km distance).
He said the new rate was imposed not because of the new driving curriculum but was derived from several factors involved in the running of driving schools which last saw a hike more than 10 years ago.
It was a reasonable rate, Mat Aris said, following the more comprehensive curriculum which required a 1:1 instructor to student ratio, and could be considered as one of the cheapest fees.
By comparison, he said, the fees in Singapore and Japan were S$3,000 (RM7,673) and US$3,000 (RM9,687), respectively.
RTD had, on Monday, posted the new rates on its Facebook page, adding that the public could file a report to their respective state RTD director or headquarters if they found any driving school or institute not in compliance.