KUALA LUMPUR (July 30): The long-awaited multi-lane free flow (MLFF) toll collection system is now only expected to be implemented by 2027 at the earliest, according to a Works Ministry official.

The process, among others, involves stakeholder engagement, a potential request for proposal by highway concessionaires, and the formation of a regulator under the Malaysian Highway Authority to oversee the system, said Works Ministry secretary general Datuk Seri Azman Ibrahim.

"Taking all these aspects into consideration, the earliest we expect the implementation would be in 2027," Azman was quoted as saying in the Public Accounts Committee’s latest report.

The idea of implementing a barrierless toll collection system in Malaysia dates back nearly two decades, first mooted by the late Tun S Samy Vellu who was the works minister in the mid-2000s.

The system was envisioned to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion at toll plazas by enabling vehicles to pass through without stopping, using technologies such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and automated number plate recognition.

However, despite multiple announcements and pilot initiatives over the years, the MLFF system has yet to materialise due to resistance from the industry and overlapping concession agreements.

Azman told a proceeding by the bipartisan parliamentary committee held on May 20 this year that the ministry had already drafted the key parameters required to standardise the MLFF system’s implementation.

However, no formal engagement with highway concessionaires has taken place, as the ministry is still awaiting a decision from the Cabinet, he noted.

“We cannot proceed with any communication or engagement with the concessionaires until the Cabinet makes its decision,” he said, cautioning that early engagement without formal approval could potentially lead to legal disputes.

Azman also said new regulations will be needed to support the implementation and oversight of the MLFF system. “Although we already have an existing Act, we still need to formulate specific regulations under it” with the drafting process already underway at the ministry level, he said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Highway Authority’s deputy director general (business) Mohd Hadzmir Yusoff clarified during the same proceeding on May 20 that the government had not initiated any official pilot projects for the MLFF system.

Any MLFF-related trials to date, he said, were carried out independently by the concessionaires themselves, without directives from the government.

Previously, The Edge Malaysia weekly reported in its Feb 3-9, 2025 edition that highway concessionaires, led by state-owned Plus Malaysia Bhd, were developing their own MLFF systems.

Plus, the country’s largest highway operator, was expected to begin its MLFF trial by April, while Amanah Lebuhraya Rakyat was also reportedly planning to launch pilot runs, according to industry sources.

The report also noted that Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd, the highway arm of Permodalan Nasional Bhd, was among the early movers, having already started trial runs using its own MLFF system.

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