The Road Transport Department keeps a public register of every licensed driving institute, state by state, complete with the institute's code, address, telephone number and the district it is allowed to operate in. What the register does not contain is a single ringgit figure. Institutes set their own fees.

That leaves learners comparing prices by telephone, which is exactly how a RM591 gap survives unnoticed. On 16 September 2026 we went looking for institutes that print a full fee schedule on their own website, and read seven of them line by line, across Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Sabah, Penang, Johor and Selangor. Every figure below came off the institute's own page on that date.

This is not a ranking of teaching quality. It is a record of what each one publishes, and of the extras that sit underneath the headline number.

What you are actually paying for

A Malaysian driving licence is not bought as one lesson package. It is a curriculum, the Kurikulum Pendidikan Pemandu, delivered in stages, and most published price lists are simply that curriculum with a figure against each stage.

KPP01 is the theory block, six hours of lecture followed by the computerised law test. Pass it and you may apply for the learner's licence, the L.

KPP02 is the main practical block. Riakar prices it as nine hours thirty minutes plus the fingerprint registration. ADC prices it separately from KPP01 and KPP03.

KPP03 is the final six hours of practical training, then the QTI pre test and the JPJ practical test itself.

This is why so many schools quote in three payments rather than one. Institut Memandu Jaafar Othman in Masjid Tanah publishes exactly that: RM438 on registration, RM596 second payment, RM443 third, RM1,477 in total for a manual Class D.

The automatic trap

Common sense says the automatic course should be cheaper, because there is less to learn. Three of the seven institutes charge more for it.

ADC in Kota Kinabalu lists Class D at RM1,677 and Class DA at RM1,840, a difference of RM163. Shah Bandar in Shah Alam lists D at RM1,992 and DA at RM2,100, a difference of RM108. Jaafar Othman lists D at RM1,477 and DA at RM1,577, a difference of RM100. The remaining four price both identically. None of the seven charges less for an automatic.

That matters because of what the two licences let you do. A Class D holder may drive both manual and automatic cars. A Class DA holder may only drive automatics. ADC's own Class D page also states that a manual licence holder can upgrade to a Goods Driving Licence or Public Service Vehicle licence after a minimum of three years, while a DA holder cannot. So the automatic route is usually the narrower licence at the same price or more.

The 8% SST question

Driving instruction is a taxable service, and only two of the seven institutes say so on the price page.

Shah Bandar prints "All prices are inclusive of 8% SST" above its table. Berjaya Bhd prints the same and dates it: prices effective 1 July 2026, including 8% SST. Those two also happen to be the two most expensive Class D figures in the set, which is worth holding in mind when comparing them against the five that stay silent.

If a school quotes you a number over the phone, the useful follow up is not "is that the final price" but "does that include SST, the L licence and the P licence".

The extras nobody quotes first

Riakar publishes the fullest list of add ons, and it is a fair guide to what any institute may charge:

  1. The L (learner) licence, RM35 for a car course, and the P (probationary) licence, RM60.
  2. A repeat computer test, RM38.
  3. A repeat JPJ practical test, RM250 for a car. That single line can add more than 13% to Riakar's RM1,855 headline.
  4. An extra hour of practical class, RM100 for a car.

Others price the same items differently. Jaafar Othman adds RM12 for the KPP e book, RM40 for the L licence and RM25 for the pre test, and states that its fees exclude the computer test fee and transport charges. Berjaya Bhd charges RM60 for an extra hour on a car or B Full motorcycle and RM108 on a lorry, bus or trailer. ADC states plainly that the PDL is not included in its D, DA, B or B2 prices.

Two quieter routes that cost less

Renewing a licence that expired. If a competent driving licence lapses beyond the grace period the holder has to sit the test again, but most institutes price this "rayuan pembaharuan" far below a new licence. Shah Bandar charges RM734 for a Class D renewal appeal against RM1,992 for a new one, RM408 for B2 against RM650, and RM1,035 for Class E against RM1,478. Akademi Memandu Berjaya in Penang charges RM1,044 for a D appeal against RM1,750 new. Berjaya Bhd charges RM1,325 against RM2,068.

Adding a class when you already hold a licence. Shah Bandar charges RM1,650 to add Class D for an existing licence holder rather than RM1,992, and RM535 to add B2 rather than RM650. Akademi Memandu Nilai charges RM1,420 rather than RM1,520 for a car, and RM460 rather than RM510 for B2.

Student and foreigner pricing

Akademi Memandu Nilai is the only institute in this set publishing an age based student rate: RM1,380 for a car licence at ages 17 to 18 and RM1,430 at 19 to 20, against RM1,520 standard, with proof of age or student status required. Its B2 student rates are RM370 and RM420 against RM510. Those student prices are full payment only, with no instalment option.

At the other end, foreigners pay a premium where it is published. Nilai charges RM2,120 for a car licence against RM1,520, and Riakar charges RM2,040 for a manual car against RM1,855 and RM720 for B2 against RM595.

Paying by instalment is not free

Akademi Memandu Nilai is the only institute here that prints both a full payment price and an instalment price side by side, and the gap is fixed rather than a percentage. A standard Class D or DA licence is RM1,520 paid in full and RM1,620 by instalment, a flat RM100 more. Adding Class D to an existing licence is RM1,420 against RM1,520. On motorcycles the surcharge is RM50: B2 is RM510 against RM560, adding B2 is RM460 against RM510, and B Full is RM800 against RM850.

The catch is who may use it. Nilai marks instalments "Tidak Tersedia" — not available — on every student rate and every foreigner rate. So the two groups most likely to need to spread the cost are the two that cannot, and the RM1,380 student price is a full payment price or nothing. Where instalments are offered, the institute lists online payment, SPayLater and over the counter as the channels.

Most of the other six do not publish an instalment price at all. Jaafar Othman comes closest by splitting its RM1,477 into three stage payments of RM438, RM596 and RM443, which is a payment schedule rather than credit, and costs no more than the headline. If you need to spread the cost, ask whether the school means staged payments at the same price or an instalment plan at a higher one.

A worked example

Take a 19 year old in Nilai who wants a manual car licence and a small motorcycle licence, pays in full, and passes everything first time.

Class D at the student rate for ages 19 to 20 is RM1,380. Class B2 at the student rate for the same age band is RM420. Total RM1,800, with JPJ fees, theory, practical and tests included in both, per the institute's own note.

The same two licences at Berjaya Bhd in Johor Bahru, at standard new candidate prices including 8% SST, are RM2,068 and RM672. Total RM2,740.

Now assume one failed practical test on the car. At Riakar that is another RM250. At Shah Bandar and several others the retest fee is not published at all, which is the single most common reason a quoted price and a final bill do not match.

How to pick one

Start with the JPJ register rather than a search engine. Every state list on the department's portal gives the institute code, the address, the phone number and the district it may operate in, and an institute missing from that list is not licensed to teach you.

Then ask for the fee schedule in writing, stage by stage, and check four things against it: whether SST is included, whether the L and P licences are included, what a repeat computer test and a repeat JPJ test cost, and what an extra practical hour costs. Those four lines are where two identical looking quotes separate.

Finally, look at the date on the page. ADC's lorry and vocational package pages carry a "Last Updated 2 March 2024" stamp while its car pages do not, and Jaafar Othman's schedule is dated 20 December 2025 with a note that rates may change without notice. A published price is only as current as the page it sits on.

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*Image: Pusat Latihan Memandu Shah Bandar.*