Penang has cancelled 27,734 parking compounds issued through its automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system and refunded RM203,170 to motorists who had already paid, NST reported.
State local government and town and country planning committee chairman H’ng Mooi Lye said 27,485 of the cancelled compounds came from the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and the remaining 249 from the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP). The figures were given in a written reply at the state assembly sitting on 5 November.
“Of the total, 6,470 compounds had been paid, comprising 6,441 under MBPP, for which RM202,435 was refunded to motorists, and 29 under MBSP, with refunds amounting to RM735,” he said.
The reply answered a question from Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubuk) on what ANPR cost the state, what the councils learnt from the system, and how many compounds were struck out or refunded. Any future enforcement technology, H’ng said in the reply that Sinar Harian also carried, would need thorough testing to avoid wrong number plate readings and unwarranted action.
He listed other safeguards: standard operating procedures drawn around real roadside conditions and the parking payment window, checks before a compound is issued, pilot runs and a risk assessment ahead of any full rollout, and clearer public information on how a system works and how payment is made.
The councils carried no development, procurement, operations or maintenance cost, H’ng added. The work sat inside their existing contracts with HeiTech Padu (HTP), which bore all expenses for the system, so the suspension brought no financial implication for either local authority. Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow announced in August that MBPP and MBSP would stop issuing ANPR compounds immediately while the rollout was reviewed, after feedback from the public. Refund claims for compounds already settled ran until 30 September 2026, with payments made through the Penang Smart Parking app returned automatically to the user’s wallet, the state government’s news portal Buletin Mutiara wrote in August. MBPP Mayor Datuk A. Rajendran had said the island council issued about 7,000 compounds a month for parking offences, counting from when the system went live on 24 April 2025.
The island council’s 27,485 cancelled notices alone work out to about four months at that monthly pace. Paid compounds formed 23.3 per cent of the total struck out, which left most of the RM203,170 refund going to island motorists: RM202,435 of it, against RM735 on the mainland.
