23 Puspakom staff are to be fired from their jobs after found to be involved in backdoor approval of vehicles, accepting bribes and abuse of power.

The decision came after recent raids by the ACA (Anti Corruption Agency) discovered a fleet of vehicles not fit for commercial use but were somehow granted approval by Puspakom officials to be on the road.

Some of the approvals were only involved ‘paper transaction’, i.e. approvals made even without the presence of the vehicles themselves. These are done after the staff received payment from unscrupulous party.

About a dozen commercial vehicles have been recalled for investigation and retest.

Pursuant to the discovery, more than 50 staff of the company were detained for questioning, with suspicion on corrupt practices and violation of conduct within the company’s operation. Many of them were said to allow vehicle approval without going a complete assessment cycle as required by the guideline.

The government is also considering to remove Puspakom exclusivity in conducting vehicle checks and end the company’s monopoly, while the vehicle inspection system will undergo a revamp.

Puspakom was established in 1994, operating under the DRB-Hicom group, and undertook responsibility to conduct safety inspection on commercial vehicles from the Road Transport Department (JPJ) under a privatization exercise.