Petaling Jaya, 1st February 2023 - There is no appropriate legislation for cases of thefts involving private rented vehicles, and this is why it can only be classified as civil cases and referred to the magistrate, according to the police.
Director of Criminal Investigation Department, CP Dato' Sri Abd Jalil Hassan said while most cases of car theft would come under Section 379A of the Penal Code,
the Act, however, could not be applied to vehicles that were rented out.
This, he explained, was due to the fact that Section 379A only applied when the incidents involved the vehicle’s registered owners.
“When a rental vehicle is reported missing, some of the legal issues that arise includes the real owner not having filed a police report; the renter did not file a police report because he was not the registered owner; owners who filed a police report were not bound by Section 379A of the Penal Code.
“Based on these points, the investigation under Section 379A of the Penal Code cannot be conducted because of the ‘registered owner issue''.
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The Star’s article attached.
