KEJARA Demerit Points Malaysia 2026: Check & Suspension

KEJARA demerit points are the half of a traffic offence nobody reads about. The summons arrives with an amount printed on it. The points arrive with nothing printed at all. Alamak, settle already lah — and that is precisely the moment they start counting, because under the Rules it is paying the compound that puts them on your record.

What follows is the gazetted version: the Road Transport (Demerit Points) Rules 2017 and its two amendments, the Road Transport Act 1987, and JPJ’s own published pages, each with the date it carries. Worth saying at the top — those sources do not all agree with one another. Where they part company, this page says so rather than picking the nicest-looking number.

Quick Answer: 20 accumulated demerit points is the line. Above it a full licence can be suspended and a probationary licence must be revoked. Points are awarded when you are convicted or when you pay the compound, not when the notice lands, and only for the 20 offences in the Schedule to the Rules.

• The threshold: 20 or more accumulated points. Three suspensions inside 5 years and the licence is revoked.
• The clock that matters: 21 days to surrender the licence once a notice is served — and the suspension starts anyway when those days run out.
• The one thing that takes points off: up to 50% of them, after 12 consecutive months without a scheduled offence.

When it landsThe ladderOffence table

What KEJARA is, and when the points actually land

KEJARA is JPJ’s shorthand for Sistem Keselamatan Jalan Raya: a procedure for awarding demerit points to drivers who commit scheduled offences under the Road Transport Act 1987 and the rules made under it. The machinery lives in the Road Transport (Demerit Points) Rules 2017, made under sections 35(2) and 35A(2) of the Act — the same two sections that give the Director General the power to suspend or revoke a licence in the first place. The Rules were made on 5 April 2017 and came into operation on 6 April 2017.

A scheduled offence means exactly one thing: an offence listed in the Schedule to those Rules. Nothing outside that list carries a point, however bad it looks.

The trigger is narrower than most people assume. The Director General is notified — and points are awarded — where the licence holder has been convicted of a scheduled offence, or has been compounded for one and has paid that compound. JPJ says the same thing in plainer words: the count does not begin when the notice arrives from JPJ or PDRM, it begins when the offender pays. Which produces the odd moment where settling a summons is what starts the process that can cost you the licence.

Two footnotes on that. First, once awarded, the points are backdated: rule 4(3) says they take effect from the date the offence was committed, not the date the money moved. Second, there is a provision in the Act pointing the other way. Section 35(8) says that for the purposes of that section a person is deemed to have committed the offence if the penalty is not settled within 3 months of the notice under section 53, 53A, 115A or 119, unless criminal proceedings have been started. Both are printed here because both are on the books; do not read the payment rule as a way of keeping a record clean by ignoring the post.

Camera summonses feed the same system. JPJ describes AwAS as detecting and recording traffic offences automatically and enforcing the demerit point system for AwAS offences. The amount on the summons, where to check it and how to deal with the notice itself are a separate subject — see Traffic Summons Malaysia 2026.

The twenty-point ladder, and four official answers

Rule 5(1) sets the threshold: where a holder of a driving licence other than a probationary one has been awarded a total of 20 or more accumulated demerit points, the Director General may suspend the licence. Rule 5(2) sets the lengths — a first suspension of not less than 6 months and not more than 8 months, a second of 8 months to 10 months, a third or later one of 10 months to 12 months. Rule 5(6) closes it: suspended for the third time in a period of 5 years and the Director General shall revoke.

Those lengths are still the gazetted ones. The Rules have been amended twice and neither amendment touches them: P.U. (A) 271/2018 reaches only subrules 5(3) and 5(4), and P.U. (A) 192/2021 reaches only the Schedule.

And yet the government pages a driver will actually land on do not say the same thing. Four different answers are in circulation to one question — what happens the first time you hit 20.

There is no way to reconcile those, and this page will not pretend otherwise. What can be said plainly is which document is the law: the Rules, as gazetted and as amended. Everything else on that list is an agency summary of them. If a notice ever arrives with a period on it that does not match rule 5(2), that discrepancy is worth raising with JPJ in writing rather than assuming the web page is right.

The offence table, straight from the Schedule

The Schedule gives two numbers for every offence, not one. The lower column is a driver of a motor vehicle other than a goods vehicle and bus — ordinary cars and motorcycles. The higher column is a driver of a goods vehicle or bus. The Schedule’s own note pulls the definition of “bus” from the Land Public Transport Act 2010 (Act 715) in the Peninsular and the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 (Act 334) in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, so the heavier column applies nationwide.

The Schedule has 23 numbered rows, of which paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 were deleted by P.U. (A) 192/2021 with effect from 26 April 2021 — leaving 20 live entries, which is the figure JPJ now publishes. The three that went were the alcohol ones: driving or being in charge with alcohol above the prescribed limit under section 45A(1), and the two failures to provide a specimen under sections 45B(4) and 45C(6). JPJ’s account is that they were removed because they must go before a Magistrate instead. Those three specific charges are therefore not a points problem, they are a court problem — but being in charge of a vehicle under the influence under section 45(1) is still item 2 on the Schedule and still carries points, so drink-driving generally has not left the points system.

Two things stand out once it is laid out. A phone in the hand is 3 points and a helmet is 2, while careless driving is 10 — so two careless driving compounds put a car driver at 20 on their own. And the same red light costs a bus driver 6 where it costs a car driver 4, which is the Schedule quietly saying that the bigger the vehicle, the shorter the rope.

One caution on the numbers. MyGOV’s summary page gives worked examples that do not match this Schedule at all — a red light at 10 points, a mobile phone at 10, speeding at 6 to 8. Those figures appear in no version of the Schedule located, gazetted or published by JPJ. The table above is the gazetted one.

The P licence has no ladder

For a probationary driving licence there is no warning, no graduated suspension and no second chance at 20. Rule 6(1) is one sentence: where the holder of a probationary driving licence has been awarded a total of 20 or more accumulated demerit points, the Director General shall revoke it. The Act frames the power the same way, giving the Director General a window of 24 months from the date the probationary licence was granted.

Then come the two subrules that catch people out later. Rule 6(2): once a probationary holder is granted a full licence, the points earned on the P licence stay recorded against their name. Rule 6(3): if points for an offence committed during the probationary period only land after the full licence has been granted, and together with the earlier ones they reach 20, the Director General may revoke the full licence too. Given that points attach on payment and payment can lag the offence by weeks, that is not a theoretical sequence.

There is one mercy in rule 6(4): where a probationary licence is revoked, every point awarded against the holder is cancelled. The slate is clear. The licence is not. And JPJ closes the obvious escape route — its licence FAQ says the exemption from re-sitting the Part 1 test is only for people who failed to renew in time, so a holder revoked under KEJARA does not get it. Renewal itself, and what the P plate period involves, is covered in Renew Driving Licence Malaysia 2026.

How points come off

There is no rolling expiry published anywhere. Points do not quietly age out after a year of good behaviour. What exists is four specific routes, and only one of them is something a driver can aim for.

• The 50% deduction. Rule 5(3): if the holder is not convicted of and not compounded for any scheduled offence for 12 consecutive months from the date of the last one, and has attended a rehabilitation course where the Director General required it, the Director General may deduct up to 50% of the accumulated points.
• At the end of a suspension. Rule 5(5)(a) refers to the cancellation of demerit points at the end of the period of suspension, and JPJ’s demerit check page prints mata hapus at every step of its ladder.
• A court disqualification. Section 35(6) of the Act: where a court disqualifies a person from holding or obtaining a licence, every point awarded against them under the Rules is cancelled.
• Revocation of a probationary licence. Rule 6(4), above.

The 50% route has a trap written into it. Rule 5(4) says the clean-record condition does not apply if the holder committed a scheduled offence during those 12 months but was only convicted or compounded, and awarded the points, after the period ended. In other words the clean run is measured from the date of the offence, not the date of the paperwork — so a summons that turns up late can retroactively spoil a year.

How often can it be given? The Rules and JPJ answer differently. The 2018 amendment rewrote rule 5(3) to read “and for every period of twelve consecutive months after that”, and inserted “for every period of twelve consecutive months” after the words about accumulated points — which reads as a deduction that repeats. JPJ’s FAQ, both the web page and the PDF, still says the incentive is given once only, before a suspension or a revocation. What both agree on is that there is no appeal: JPJ answers the question of whether a driver can appeal for a reduction with a flat no, outside those two grounds.

Where to check, and what a notice means

JPJ’s KEJARA FAQ says demerit points can be checked in the MyJPJ app and on the JPJ public portal, and gives kejara at jpj.gov.my for questions about the system. The public check page itself states what has to be entered: choose the ID category, then enter the ID number and the vehicle registration number. MyGOV points somewhere else again — to MySIKAP and to JPJ counters — and the MyJPJ app page’s own feature list names a licence expiry check, a vehicle licence expiry check and a JPJ summons check, without naming a demerit check. If one channel comes back empty, that is a reason to try another rather than to conclude the record is clean.

The notice, and the 21 days

Nothing happens silently. Section 37(1) of the Act requires the Director General, before suspending or revoking under section 35 or 35A, to give written notice of the intention, specify a date not less than 14 days after the notice, and call on the person to show cause why the licence should not be suspended or revoked. JPJ sends warning, suspension and revocation notices by registered post to the address on the licence record — which is the practical argument for keeping that address current.

Once a notice is served, rule 7(1) gives 21 days to surrender the licence at any JPJ branch or other approved place. Rule 7(2) says the suspension or revocation takes effect on the date of surrender or at the end of those 21 days, whichever is earlier. Holding on to the card changes nothing: JPJ says the action proceeds as soon as the 21 days are up. The only thing not surrendering achieves is being on the road without knowing you are already suspended.

Suspended or revoked: what that actually blocks

Rule 8(1): during a suspension you may not drive under any driving licence — including one issued by another authority — and may not obtain one. Rule 8(2): after a revocation the same bar runs for 12 months from the date of revocation. Rule 8(3) adds that the Director General may refuse or suspend any dealing or transaction under the Act, and JPJ spells out what that means in practice: the driving licence and the motor vehicle licence renewal in that person’s name are both blocked for the whole period. A suspension therefore reaches the road tax as well.

It also reaches work. JPJ states that suspension or revocation of the competent licence causes the vocational licences — the goods vehicle licence and the public service vehicle licence — to be suspended or revoked with it.

Driving anyway is its own offence, and not a small one. Section 38(4) of the Act: a fine of not less than RM3,000 and not more than RM10,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years. Meanwhile the points do not stop. Rule 5(5) keeps points earned during a suspension out of the cancellation at the end of it, and lets them trigger a further suspension if they reach 20; JPJ answers the question directly with a yes.

After a revocation and the 12 months, you start again as a new applicant — JPJ’s FAQ PDF says the application begins with a learner’s licence. On the other side, section 38(2) requires the Director General to remove the suspension, revocation or disqualification from the database immediately on expiry of the period, so the record is not meant to linger past its term.

Walaoeh Verdict

The single most useful thing on this page is that paying a summons is not the end of it. That is the mental model almost everyone has, and the Rules say the opposite: payment is the event that puts the points on. Anyone who settles a stack of old compounds in one afternoon should check the demerit balance afterwards, not before.

The second is the P licence. A full licence gets a ladder with several rungs; a probationary one gets a single line at 20 and then it is gone, with no exemption from re-sitting the test. And because probationary points follow you onto the full licence under rule 6(2), a bad first year is not wiped by the upgrade.

The third is unglamorous and matters most: keep the address on the licence record current. Every consequence in this guide is triggered by a notice sent by registered post; the notice must give a date not less than 14 days after the notice for you to show cause, and the surrender window is 21 days from service. Registered post to whatever address is on record is still how the Act serves it — another reason not to let the address go stale. If a notice does arrive, the Act gives a right to show cause — use it in writing, and take advice if the licence is how you earn a living.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Every figure above comes from one of these, all checked on 14 September 2026.

• Laws of Malaysia, P.U. (A) 110/2017 — Road Transport (Demerit Points) Rules 2017, gazetted 5 April 2017 and in operation 6 April 2017. Rules 2 to 9 and the Schedule.
• Laws of Malaysia, P.U. (A) 271/2018 — Road Transport (Demerit Points) (Amendment) Rules 2018. The change to the 50% deduction.
• Laws of Malaysia, P.U. (A) 192/2021 — Road Transport (Demerit Points) (Amendment) Rules 2021, in operation 26 April 2021. Deletion of Schedule paragraphs 3, 4 and 5.
• Laws of Malaysia, Act 333 — Road Transport Act 1987, sections 1, 35, 35A, 37 and 38. Official reprint text as at 1 February 2013.
• JPJ — Demerit Points System For Traffic Offences (KEJARA) and its Malay original. When points start counting, and the 3-to-6-month figure.
• JPJ — Soalan Lazim (KEJARA) and the older FAQ PDF. The 21 days, the registered post, the vocational licences, the blocked renewals, and the two different ladders.
• JPJ — Semakan Demerit. The check page, what it asks for, and its own version of the ladder.
• JPJ — Kesalahan Berjadual dan Mata Demerit, the Schedule as published by the department, plus Soalan Lazim (Lesen Memandu), Soalan Lazim (AwAS) and the MyJPJ page.
• Ministry of Transport — tabled Dewan Rakyat answer of 7 August 2018, question 70.
• MyGOV — Understanding the KEJARA System, updated 10 December 2025. Cited only for the discrepancy.