Vehicle registration plates of Malaysia

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Malaysian vehicle license plates are the license plates displayed on all motorized road vehicles in Malaysia, as required by law. The issue of license plates is regulated and administered by the Malaysian Road Transport Department.

In standard regulation, all vehicle license plates in Malaysia, other than those issued to diplomats, dealers and taxis (see below), have white characters on a black background, regardless of the vehicle type. All vehicles must also display two of the same license plates numbers of the same colours at the front and rear of the vehicles.

Contents

[edit] Fundamental design

Standard layout configurations of license plates for Malaysian private vehicles. The white outlines of the plates, which are optional, are commonly favoured by local dealerships and service centres to allow the addition of their names and logos at the bottommost edge of the frame.
Standard layout configurations of license plates for Malaysian private vehicles. The white outlines of the plates, which are optional, are commonly favoured by local dealerships and service centres to allow the addition of their names and logos at the bottommost edge of the frame.

The most common form of Malaysian license plates, in use since the introduction of motorised vehicles in the country's British colonial era, typically begin with one or more letters (the first letter(s) serving as a vehicle or location prefix) followed by up to four numerical digits with no leading zeros. Thus, the configuration of a common Malaysian number plate may be in the form of ABC 1234, as depicted with two examples on the right.

The sequence of licensed numbers issued begins with x 1 ("x" being the prefixes of the vehicle's registered location and vehicle type) to x 9999, followed by xA 1 to xY 9999, xAA 1 to xAY 9999, xBA 1 to xBY 9999, and so on (letters I, O and Z are not used to avoid ambiguity with numbers or other forms of local license plates).

The format is used in virtually all classes of vehicles with engines, including, unless stated later:

  • Private vehicles (cars, motorcycles, vans, trucks and other vehicles of similar design).
  • Commercial and industrial vehicles (vans, trucks - light or heavy, buses, road-legal vehicles for construction and excavation and other vehicles of similar design).
  • Service vehicles (police cars, ambulances, fire engines, public utility vehicles and other vehicles of similar design).

The shape and size of Malaysian license plates on cars are not restricted so long as the colours and size of letterings adhere to license plate guidelines and are four-sided with levelled top and bottom edges. While motorcycles' rear number plates are normally displayed in standard fashion, there are lesser restrictions on license numbers displayed at the front, allowing them to be place on the front fender or fairing of the vehicle, with or without a black license plate.

[edit] Location prefixes

[edit] Peninsular Malaysia

Vehicle license plates used in Peninsular Malaysia start with a letter of the alphabet. They do not use a checksum digit, unlike number plates from Singapore. Vehicles registered in the various states begin with specific letters as follows:

  • A: Perak
  • B: Selangor, including plates registered in Kuala Lumpur before the city separated as a Federal Territory in 1974.
  • C: Pahang
  • D: Kelantan
  • J: Johor, including Government (JDT1~JDT10) and Johor Military Force or Askar Timbalan Setia Negeri (JMF)
  • K: Kedah, including Langkawi (KV)
  • M: Malacca (Created by the British colonial government as one of four early Straits Settlements license plate prefixes, with "M" denoting "Malacca".)
  • N: Negeri Sembilan
  • P: Penang (Created by the British colonial government as one of four early Straits Settlements license plate prefixes, with "P" denoting "Penang".)
  • R: Perlis
  • T: Terengganu (plate T & TA were used by Kelantan)
  • Vehicles registered in the federal territories:
    • L: Labuan
    • PUTRAJAYA as starting text: Putrajaya
    • W: Kuala Lumpur, issued after the city achieved a Federal Territory status in 1974. The W series plate is the most numerous license plate issued, at over 4 million as of March 2008. Up to 1957, W was the code for Province Wellesley as one of four early Straits Settlements license plate prefixes, with "W" denoting "Wellesley".

Peninsular Malaysia Motor Dealer's (Trade) plates are of pressed alloy with white or silver letters on a dark blue background, using the "W 1234 A" format, where the first letter is the state code and the only final letter ever seen is 'A' (except for motor cycle dealers, whose suffix is 'S'). The (up to 4 numbers in Kuala Lumpur, and 3 numbers elsewhere? are serial.

[edit] East Malaysia

SS 6666 C
QSM 6390

Vehicles registered in the states of Sarawak and Sabah are allocated vehicle number plates commencing with the letters Q (Sarawak) or S (Sabah), followed by the regional code and a serial number - when 9999 is reached a serial letter is used, in alphabetical order, to augment.

[edit] Sarawak

Presently, Sarawakan license numbers follow either the new version of the regional code ("QKA 1234") or the old version ("KA 1234 Q"). Before Sarawak's entry into the Malaysian Federation in 1963, the plate number did not include a "Q" suffix (thus reading as "KA 1234").

However the "K" prefix representing Kuching is same as that of the Peninsular Malaysian state of Kedah. As such, the Malaysian Road Transport Department amended vehicle license number regulations in 1988 by introducing a "Q" suffix for both new and old Sarawak license plates. A newer format where the "Q" suffix is shifted to the front of the license number was introduced in 1991, with the 1988 format retained for vehicles registered earlier than 1991.

Before 1991

None of the number from the format above is exhausted. Kuching division registration plates are the most issued, however, It's transfer into "QK****" in the midway of "KT****Q" in 1991. "B", "L", "6D" and "7D" are stopped at the second prefix of A, for example "6DA****Q". SG vehicles are exceeded number of 9999 before 1991, therefore, an "A" is put in front of the letter Q, it makes SG****AQ.

After 1991

A variation of old Sarawakan license numbers begin with a "xD" format, with "x" as a number representing any one of the eleven Administrative Divisions in the state, followed by a "1234 Q" format. For examples, the "6D" prefix is used to represent the 6th Division of Sarawak, Sarikei Division, while "7D" represents Kapit Division, the 7th Division of Sarawak.

Sarawak Motor Dealers' (Trade) plates vary only in their colour, which is white on a red ground.

[edit] Sabah

Before the 1980s, the number plates in Sabah used the prefix letter "E" to indicate the vehicle was registered in East Malaysia, followed by a second letter denoting the region in the state. Examples include "EJ 1234", and "EJA 1234":

The letter "E" was added to overcome confusion with vehicles from Peninsular Malaysia, but those plates then became identical to Singapore licence plates, some of which also starts with the letter "E".

Beginning the 1980s, new Sabahan vehicle license numbers were issued in a "SA 1 A" format, the "S" and "A" being the prefixes while the "A" at the end is the suffix. The second prefix will indicate the region — in this case, "A" refers to vehicles registered in Kota Kinabalu or in the West Coast Division. This format is used throughout Sabah. For example, in Tawau, the number plates will follow the series "ST 1 A". Since 2000, vehicles registered in Kota Kinabalu are issued a "SAA 1 A" format of license numbers after the exhaustion of the "SA 9999 Y" format in 1999.

  • S: Sabah
    • SA and SAA: Kota Kinabalu
    • SB: Beaufort
    • SD: Lahad Datu
    • SK: Kudat
    • SS: Sandakan
    • ST: Tawau
    • SU: Keningau
    • SG: Government

Sabah Motor Dealers' (Trade) plates are red on white in the format 1-3 numbers followed by a district letter, usually J, for Sabah's capital, Kota Kinabalu.

[edit] Specialised designations

[edit] Taxi

HWC 1234

Unlike standard vehicles, taxi number plates have black characters on a white background; an example of a taxi license plate is illustrated at the right. Whilst older taxicab number plates had previously use the exact normal number plate formats as standard vehicles, most newer Malaysian taxi assume an H (Hire) prefix at the start of its plate, followed by its respective location affix, to form any one of the following:

LIMO 914 B

Another new license plate format, LIMO **** W/B, was introduced for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) limousines following the opening of the airport in 1998. The format is dramatically different from standard Malaysian license plates, opting to designate "LIMO" as the prefix, following by the usual maximum of four digits of numbers and a location affix denoting location. As service of the limousines are restricted to Selangor (where the airport is located) and Kuala Lumpur, only the B or W letterings are used.

The local Road Transport Department allows sales of personalised numbers for taxis. Prefixes and suffixes are dependent on the location the taxi was registered in, with a single digit license numbers available for only around RM 100-200. This applies to all types of taxis except KLIA limousines.

[edit] Diplomatic vehicle

Diplomatic plate
Diplomatic plate

Diplomats' number plates also use white on a black background and Consular Corps personnel have white on red plates. Unlike other licence plates, which have the format of (typically) ABC 1234, diplomatic licence plates are formatted (for example) 11-22-DC for Diplomatic corps or ending CC for Consular Corps (for Commonwealth countries). United Nations uses UN and some international organizations have the code PA. UN plates may be seen at UN headquarters at Damansara Heights, while a few PA plates can be spotted at the WorldFish Center in Penang.

The DC plates can be most commonly seen in Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur, as there are many international embassies located in the area.

[edit] Military vehicle

The Malaysian military uses Z as the starting prefix of a licence plate, followed by a second prefix letter to denote the branch of the military. The Z alphabet is not used as suffixes in any type of Malaysian plate.

[edit] Vehicle of royalty

The Sultans, Rulers of States and their immediate Royalties uses a plate of their own, usually just bearing their official title e.g. "Tengku Mahkota Johor" is used by the Regent of Johore. This is limited to their official vehicle. The plates are usually coloured in Royal Yellow.

[edit] Company vehicle

[edit] Trailer

T/BB 5037

Semi-trailers feature two license plates, place at the rear of the trailer. One is designated for the tractor unit, and another for the following trailer itself. The tractor unit's license plate follows that of a normal ABC 1234 arrangement in accordance to those of the tractor unit itself, while the trailer's own license plate features a T/ prefix, followed by the trailer's normal registration number. Thus, an example of a trailer's license plate tends to read as followed: T/BA 1234. In a handful of cases, the T/ prefix is superscripted.

[edit] Vanity & specialty plates

Proton 1234

Vanity plates, i.e. plates using special, distinctive prefixes, are available at extra cost. These special prefixes may denote the brand of the car (such prefixes are often used, for example, on Proton and Perodua cars). Among the more commonly used special prefixes are:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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