State investment and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han said current laws only allow the operators of petrol stations to be punished, Berita Harian reported.

“The state government will propose that enforcement be extended to the owners of foreign-registered vehicles who use subsidised petrol.

“We propose that the laws be improved so that the jurisdiction of the domestic trade and cost of living ministry is expanded to allow for action against these vehicle owners,” he said.

This follows a viral incident last week, in which the driver of a foreign-registered vehicle was seen filling a plastic jerrycan with RON95 at a petrol station in Iskandar Puteri, Johor.

The Johor chapter of the domestic trade and cost of living ministry said a warning had been issued to the petrol station owner, while a probe was ongoing under the Control of Supplies Act 1961.

Several days later, another driver of a foreign-registered vehicle was seen pumping RON95 at a petrol station along the Senai–Desaru Expressway.

The Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia had also urged the government to impose punitive measures on the owners of such vehicles who pump subsidised petrol.

The association said it was hard for operators to keep watch for these vehicles as the drivers tended to use the petrol pumps at the furthest end and pay by credit card so that they could leave quickly.