KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has carried out more than 4,500 towing and removal actions between 2022 and 2025, sparked by over 9,600 public complaints regarding abandoned and obstructive vehicles.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Fadlun Mak Ujud said the enforcement momentum has carried into 2026, with 768 vehicles of various types already disposed of as of early April.
“To strengthen the management of abandoned vehicles, we have implemented a series of improvements, including logistics enhancements, increased disposal capacity, and stronger inter-agency cooperation to ensure more efficient enforcement,” Fadlun said during a press conference on the voluntary disposal of abandoned cars today.
To support these operations, DBKL currently manages three primary depots in Taman Connaught, Pantai Dalam, and Lembah Pantai, alongside additional facilities in Chan Sow Lin. Collectively, these sites offer a capacity of approximately 3,000 parking bays.
Fadlun said that DBKL’s services encompass towing and removal from public areas, storage, and sustainable disposal processes.
To streamline these efforts, DBKL has appointed Car Medic Sdn Bhd as the lead contractor under a three-year phased implementation plan.
Abandoned vehicles are collected for voluntary disposal at Block D, PPR Pantai Ria, Kuala Lumpur on April 16, 2026. — Photo by Firdaus Latif
New voluntary disposal programme
In a move to encourage civic responsibility, DBKL has introduced a voluntary disposal programme specifically for public housing (PPR) areas.
The scheme allows owners to surrender their vehicles for disposal based on their condition and category.
“For the first three months, the programme focused on public housing areas in Kuala Lumpur, where 1,159 damaged or abandoned vehicles were recorded up to March 2026,” Fadlun added.
He warned that if owners fail to act voluntarily, DBKL will proceed with mandatory towing and removal. Under the standard enforcement process, identified vehicles undergo an initial inspection.
If a vehicle is found to be obstructing traffic or causing a public nuisance, a notice is issued requiring the owner to relocate it. Failure to comply results in the vehicle being towed to a DBKL depot.
To reclaim a towed vehicle, owners must pay fines of up to RM500, in addition to towing charges and daily storage fees. Vehicles that remain unclaimed within a stipulated period are eventually disposed of in accordance with legal provisions.
Also present at the press conference was Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, who highlighted the severity of the issue in high-density residential areas.
Fahmi said that during joint site visits with DBKL last year, some locations were found to house between 100 and 150 abandoned vehicles.
At the Pantai Permai Apartments alone, the figure reached approximately 120 vehicles, including both cars and motorcycles.
“In areas such as Taman Sri Sentosa, some of these abandoned vehicles have even been turned into storage spaces, leading to hygiene and public health concerns, including rat infestations and mosquito breeding,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.
He said that the number of abandoned vehicles is alarmingly high compared to operational ones, stressing the need to clear parking spaces and explore alternative traffic routes to ease urban congestion.
