By Teh Eng Hock and Nurbaiti Hamdan

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia): Starting Jan 1, private cars using the North-South Expressway and the North-South Central Link will enjoy a 10% discount when travelling between midnight and 7am.

For travel during festive seasons, they will get a further 10% reduction on travel on selected days if they use the expressways during the same times.

The discounts apply only to Class I vehicles namely private cars between Jan 1 next year and Dec 31, 2010.

A user will be able to enjoy the discount as long as he exits the expressways and pays toll between midnight and 7am. It does not matter what time he enters the expressways.

PLUS managing director Noorizah Abd Hamid also announced during a press conference at the Works Ministry yesterday a third incentive - the PLUS Loyalty Programme.

Under the programme, Touch 'n Go and Smart Tag users who spend a minimum of RM200 monthly at PLUS-managed expressways would enjoy a rebate of 5% of the toll paid.

She said the programme's aim was to provide the incentive to motorists who used the highways during off-peak hours and encourage the use of electronic toll payment system.

"It is an initiative to distribute traffic volume across all hours of the day to improve traffic flow on the expressways," she said.

Noorizah said the incentives were also part of PLUS corporate social responsibility programme.

Explaining the festive season discount, Noorizah said discounts would be given on 12 selected days within a 14-day period during the festive holidays which include Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Christmas.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed, who was at the press conference, called the move 'historic' as no concessionaires had ever given discounts to users willingly.

In the past, any discount would have to be compensated by the Government.

"Concessionaires are giving discounts to lessen the burden of highway users, a first in the 20-year history of the country's privatised highway management," he said.

He said the move would bring relief to millions of users of the two expressways.

"Hopefully the time applicable for the discount will encourage people to wake up earlier in morning to go to work and hence work longer hours and increase productivity," he said.