A woman suspected of operating an illegal school van service was detained by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) after authorities discovered she was transporting students using a privately registered vehicle.
Kedah JPJ director Stien Van Lutam said the 42-year-old woman was stopped by enforcement officers from the Kulim branch along Lebuhraya Perdana at about 2.40pm on Tuesday.
He said checks revealed that the van, which is registered as a private vehicle, was carrying 16 school students at the time of inspection.
Investigations found multiple serious offences, including an expired road tax (LKM) and no valid insurance coverage.
Authorities also discovered that the vehicle was being used as an unlicensed school transport service without approval from relevant authorities.
The van was additionally found to have exceeded its permitted passenger capacity, carrying four more passengers than allowed.
JPJ said the poor maintenance condition of the vehicle further raised safety concerns for the passengers onboard.
Following the inspection, the vehicle was seized and sent to a JPJ depot for further investigation.
Authorities believe the illegal transport service had been operating since early this year.
The driver was later released after summons and seizure procedures were completed at the Kulim JPJ office.
The case is being investigated under the Road Transport Act 1987 and related regulations for expired road tax, misuse of vehicle registration, lack of insurance, overloading passengers and failure to maintain the vehicle.
JPJ has reminded the public not to misuse private vehicles for commercial transport purposes without approval and urged parents to ensure school transport services used by their children are properly registered for safety reasons.
