KUALA LUMPUR• • Thousands of Malaysians queued up on Christmas Eve and yesterday outside a key traffic police station in Kuala Lumpur to clear their summonses, which were given 50 per cent discounts on these two days.

Malaysian police, who periodically give steep discounts on tickets issued for traffic offences such as speeding or beating a red light, this year picked Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as the days for people to pay up.

Calling the event Meet Customer Day, Kuala Lumpur traffic investigation and enforcement department chief Zulkefly Yahya said 24 counters were opened at the Jalan Tun HS Lee traffic police station to reduce waiting time.

Police set up tents and large umbrellas outside the station and gave out queue numbers.

Still, comments and pictures on social media revealed long queues and unhappy customers.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Zulkefly told Malay Mail online news on Tuesday: "Although the period is open only to KL folks, our officer will attend to whoever shows up and intends to clear off their summonses."

The counters opened at 8.30am and closed at 4pm.

Malaysian police and other government agencies such as Kuala Lumpur City Hall regularly offer discounts on offences to members of the public to entice them to pay their fines.

And members of the public tend to hoard these tickets until steep discount windows are announced.

More than 1,000 people paid nearly RM1.2 million (S$390,000) on Tuesday, traffic department Superintendent Zulkafli Che Lah told TV3. More than 2,000 people turned up that day, he said.

Many people queued up for six hours or more to ensure they got to clear their summonses.

Mr Jazveer Singh, one of those who queued, hopes the police will allow for online payments to be made in the future.