James Kon
The Service Charge (CaP) will only be imposed on each vehicle travelling through all land control posts in Brunei Darussalam and not per person effective December 12.
Minister at The Prime Minister’s Office Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof made the announcement on the update of the CaP through the Exit and Entry System (EES) at the COVID-19 Steering Committee press conference on Tuesday.
The minister said, “With the consent of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the COVID-19 Steering Committee would like to announce that the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) through the Royal Customs and Excise Department (RCED) updated the service charge payment rate through the Exit and Entry System, whereby currently BND3 is charged for one-way, for each person travelling through land control post in Brunei Darussalam.”
Outlining the updated CaP rate, where the rate for a passenger vehicle carrying no more than seven people including the driver, he said a fee of BND3 per vehicle will be charged for a one-way trip.
“For passenger vehicles with more than seven to 25 people including the driver, such as vans or minibusses, will be charged BND6 per vehicle for one-way travel. For passenger vehicles with more than 25 people including the driver such as buses will be charged BND10 per vehicle for a one-way trip.”
For commercial vehicles not requiring inspection through an x-ray machine, a fee of BND6 will be charged per vehicle for a one-way trip. Commercial vehicles needing inspection through an x-ray machine will be charged BND10 per vehicle will be charged for a one-way trip, the minister said.
A service charge will be levied on all vehicles passing through all land control posts in Brunei Darussalam regardless of where the vehicle is registered, whether it is Brunei Darussalam registration or foreign registration, he said.
The service charge will be waived for pedestrians and vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles, and vehicles owned by the Government of Brunei Darussalam or foreign governments for official use, vehicles owned by an officer of the Government of Brunei Darussalam or foreign governments to carry out official duties, vehicles owned by Royal Brunei Armed Forces, vehicles such as ambulances, firefighters, police and vehicles used for funerals as well as vehicles used by individuals under Diplomatic Privileges (Vienna Convention) Act (Chapter 117) and Consular Relations Act (Chapter 118).
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham Bin Haji Jaafar and Acting Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Paduka Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid were also present at the press conference.
Meanwhile, members of the public who plan to cross the border on or after December 12, 2022, but have already made the CaP earlier through the EES, will be refunded.
To ensure smooth travel across the border through Land control post, members of the public are advised to make registration, application, and payment of service charge through EES system (https://login.bdnsw.gov.bn/ees/user/login) and then obtain a QR code early before starting the trip. In addition, to ensure travel documents must be valid at least three months before traveling as stipulated by the Immigration and National Registration Department.
