As of June 2025, Malaysia’s JPJ ePlate is compulsory only for brand-new battery-electric cars registered on or after 9 September 2024; earlier zero-emission vehicles can install the e-plate for about RM 98 via nearly 500 authorized installers throughout the country. The Euro-style aluminium plate features a green stripe, hologram, laser-engraved serial and tamper-proof screws, with JPJ emphasizing that its adoption will facilitate consistent enforcement and vehicle identification nationwide.
Embedded in each plate is a UHF RFID chip whose Tag Identifier (TID)—a factory-burned, read-only code stored in the TID memory bank—is globally unique and cannot be altered, providing strong anti-cloning assurance for future multi-lane free-flow or MLFF tolling, smart-parking and enforcement systems. JPJ and the Ministry of Transport plan to extend the same TID-based ePlate standard to internal-combustion cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles once pilot data are reviewed and production scales, aiming for full national rollout “within the next few years.”
How the unique TID standard for RFID technology secures JPJ ePlate?
TID stands for Tag Identifier. In every EPC Gen-2 (RAIN UHF) RFID chip there is a dedicated Memory Bank 10 (called “TID memory”) that the silicon foundry programs once at wafer-level and then permanently locks. It contains:
| Field | Purpose | Programmability |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer ID (MDID) | Identifies the chip vendor (e.g., NXP, Impinj, Alien) | Factory-set, read-only |
| Tag Model Number (TMN) | Identifies the exact chip family & revision | Factory-set, read-only |
| Unique Serial Number | A per-die, never-repeated binary value | Factory-set, read-only |
Because none of these bits can be altered in the field, the TID is globally unique and immutable.
TID is useful against cloning in 3 layers:
- Chip-level uniqueness
- A clone built with a different chip cannot copy the original TID, because the serial number is burned into silicon.
- If the attacker tries to rewrite the counterfeit chip’s TID, the hardware blocks the attempt.
- TID + EPC pairing check
- Good practice is to read both the EPC (the application ID you assign) and the TID, then store them as a fixed pair in your access-control or parking database.
- At each gate the reader verifies that the live EPC and TID still match the enrolled pair. A copied EPC without the right TID is rejected.
- Foundation for cryptography
- New Gen-2 v2 chips (e.g., NXP UCODE DNA) embed AES-128. The challenge-response uses the unique TID as part of the diversified key, so every tag answers with a different cryptogram even if the EPCs are identical.
- This makes full bit-for-bit cloning mathematically infeasible.
Implementing anti-cloning in a parking or access-control system
| Layer | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Reader configuration | Turn on TID reporting (most UHF readers can send EPC + TID in the same frame). | Gives your software both identifiers with no extra read time. |
| Back-end database | Enrol tags as <EPC, TID> pairs and flag any mismatch. | Blocks simple EPC duplicates. |
| Firmware / Middleware | Optionally enable Gen-2 v2 secure authentication for high-value zones. | Reader issues an AES challenge; only genuine tags respond correctly, stopping even hardware-level clones. |
| Tag selection | Choose tags that advertise: locked serialized TID andGen-2 v2 / AES (e.g., UCODE DNA windshield or hang-tags). | Provides both passive uniqueness and cryptographic proof. |
Limitations to remember
- Physical relays – If an attacker steals the entire legitimate tag (e.g., windshield label) the TID goes with it; additional measures like tamper-proof mounting or camera LPR cross-checks help.
- Side-channel or key-extraction attacks – Very sophisticated adversaries could target the crypto engine itself; keep keys diversified per tag and rotate reader keys when your supplier allows.
- Operational discipline – The anti-clone logic is only as good as the enrolment process and the consistency of your back-end data.
TimeTec UHF 200HC (TID) is a RS 232 reader is specially designed to read the signal from the embedded RFID chip of the JPJ ePlate or from the RFID sticker on the windshield, facilitating seamless vehicle identification and integration with TimeTec Smart Parking System to cover casual, season, valet parking and etc.
With a combination of the TimeTec UHF 200HC installed at the entry and exit points, along with the TimeTec Parking Management System (PMS), you can create a perfect hands-free smart parking system for car park users with TimeTec eWallet Direct payment method. The TimeTec UHF 200HC has a long lifespan, comes with a waterproof casing, and is suitable for outdoor installations, working efficiently even in adverse weather conditions.
The following is a simple System Diagram on how TimeTec UHF 200HC works with JPS ePlate for parking environment:
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