SHAH ALAM: Some 'runners' or middlemen have been found making quick profits by reselling Puspakom centre appointment slots at more than 200 times the original price.

Puspakom has revealed that intermediaries or 'runners' are making nearly RM750 in profit by selling multiple appointment slots at the centre.

Its chief executive officer Mahmood Razak Bahman said one of the tactics involved using the same chassis number but different vehicle registration numbers to secure multiple appointment slots.

"One appointment slot costs only RM3.50, but some are selling it for up to RM750.

"Investigations are still ongoing with the assistance of the Road Transport Department (RTD)," he said.

"We are looking into who and why they are doing this, and we will call in the involved runners," he said during a briefing following the visit of the RTD director-general Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli, to Puspakom Shah Alam here today.

It was previously reported that Puspakom Sdn Bhd had announced a crackdown on the reselling of inspection slots by intermediaries (runners) who had been abusing the system by booking multiple slots and reselling them for profit.

To prevent this misuse, Puspakom would now restrict multiple bookings for the same vehicle registration number.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced the measure the measure aimed at streamlining the inspection process while ensuring that vehicle owners remain responsible for compliance.

Meanwhile, Aedy Fadly said the department was seeking assistance from relevant agencies like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to determine what actions could be taken against the involved runners.

"We are trying to track down the runners, but for now, despite all our efforts, we have not been able to contact them.

"So, we are exploring other methods to locate them," he said.