Scooter Licence Singapore

[Jupiter Fuerst]

Howeverenforcement officers from the Land Transport Authority's Active Mobility Enforcement Division found 93 Neuron e-scooters and 48 Telepod e-scooters before either company had been issued licences for Personal Mobility Device (PMD) sharing services.

LTA had sent a letter to Neuron Mobility in July 2018 informing the company that it was not allowed to operate e-scooter sharing services without a licence. It had sent similar letters and emails to Telepod in May last year and again in July last year.

LTA had said that it would be handing out licences in the second quarter of this year, but later postponed this to the third quarter while it stepped up its enforcement against reckless riding and PMD-related accidents.

Vehicle registration plates in Singapore are administered by the Land Transport Authority.[1] All vehicles in Singapore are required to display front and back plates bearing its registration number. Purchasers of vehicles have the option to bid for a vehicle registration number or get a vehicle registration number automatically assigned.[1] Vehicle registration numbers can be retained on new or old vehicles owned by the same person. Vehicle owners are also able to replace and bid for a new registration number for existing vehicles.[2]

In general, every motor vehicle in Singapore requires a vehicle registration number to be displayed at the front center (in almost all cases or otherwise set by car manufacturer due to bumper constraints) and rear of the vehicle.[1] Two colour schemes are in use: white-on-black scheme that is standard on cars and motorcycles from dealerships, or the Euro black-on-white (front of the vehicle) and black-on-yellow (rear) scheme.[3]

These plates are either represented in rectangular single line or squarish two line format. The number plate has to be made of a reflective plastic with flat characters or metal based with bolded or embossed characters which are black (for white-yellow), or white or silver (for black based ones).[3]

For motorists who would be attaching a bicycle rack of which the vehicle licence plate is blocked at the rear of a vehicle, or any other fittings such as wedding decorations that obstructs the view of the number plate, motorists are required to hang an additional licence plate prominently at the rear of the vehicle.[4]

Private car licence plate numbers began in the early 1900s when Singapore was one of the four Straits Settlements, with a single prefix S for denoting Singapore, then adding a suffix letter S 'B' to S 'Y' for cars, but skipping a few like S 'A' (reserved for motorcycles), S 'H' (reserved for taxis), S 'D' (reserved for municipal vehicles), and S 'G' for goods vehicles large and small. There was no checksum letter, for example, S. When the checksum letter was implemented, these plate numbers were given checksum letters as well, for example SG5999 became SG5999Z.

When 'S' was exhausted at SY, in January 1972, private cars started with E and Land Transport Authority begin to create separate vehicle categories according type of vehicles which previously all vehicles in Singapore must bear prefix S due to previous standardization with Peninsular Malaysia according to geographical location (A is for Perak, B is for Selangor, S is for Singapore/Sabah), motorbikes with A and goods vehicles under 3 tonnes with Y. E was followed by EA, EB with the letters EC in 1973 up to EZ. E was chosen then as letters A-D were already in used by other states in Malaysia.[5]

From 1984, the "S" series of number plates was launched again after EZ, but now with two serial suffix letters, starting from SBA, although with several prefixes being skipped as they are reserved, such as SBS and SMB, as they were used for buses that belong to public transport operators. However under the Bus Contracting Model which was later implemented, bus operators under Bus Contracting Model utilise the SG prefix for all public buses.

Since August 2017, the Land Transport Authority announced that electric bicycle (also known as Power-Assisted Bicycle) owners would have to register their personal mobility vehicles between 14 August and 31 January 2018 and install number plates, with sealing and registration to be done by the individual. Since then, if the unregistered PAB already has an LTA orange seal, a registration is only needed. Alternatively, if a registered PAB is bought from a retailer, only a transfer the registration to the individual's name is needed. Registration for PAB with blue seal has ceased as of 2018. [6][7]

Since January 2019, the Land Transport Authority announced that electric scooter owners would have to register their personal mobility vehicles between 2 January and 30 July 2019. A registered e-scooter must have a LTA Registration Mark and an Identification Mark (which bears the unique registration number assigned to the e-scooter) affixed. However, non-UL2272 certified vehicles were deregistered automatically on 1 July 2020.[8]

SH was also previously used for public buses that were not operated by the Singapore Traction Company (e.g. buses under the Chinese bus companies and later, SBS from the 1960s to 1974, when new SBS numbers were issued specifically for SBS buses.)

Civil Mobilisation Exercise or Vehicle Recalls have a large A3/A2 sticker stuck at the rear and front of the vehicle denoted that the vehicle is being mobilised or deployed for civil emergency exercises. These usually happen during weekends.

To date, vanity plates or such a scheme has not been introduced, as it would further encourage the use of private vehicles which contradicts the efforts by the state in discouraging the usage of private vehicles.[21]

For now, there is a thriving trade in the sales of number plates that have single, double or significant digits (i.e., lucky numbers) or registration numbers from the older series.[21] Bids for vehicle registration numbers starts at S$1,000, with the number awarded to the highest bidder.[21] The highest amount recorded for a bid was in 2016, where the registration number of 'S32H' was sold for S$335,000.[22]

Vehicles registered as "Off-peak Vehicles", colloquially known as "weekend cars" or red plate, pay a cheaper annual road tax compared to ordinary private cars, and rebates towards the registration of Certificate of Entitlement (COE) and Additional Registration Fee (ARF) on a new vehicle purchase.[23] Off-peak vehicles display number plates with white characters on a red background and are held with a tamper seal at the corner, bolted onto the bumper beam frame or the trunk itself. They are also not to be confused with the preserved vehicle licence plate format for de-registered vehicles.

For owners of off-peak vehicles who wish to drive on weekdays during restricted hours, they are required to buy an e-licence for $20 either online or through major post offices. Car owners have up to 24 hours on the following day to purchase the e-licence. First-time offenders may be fined up to $5,000 for failing to display a valid day coupon or using an invalid day coupon, and up to $10,000 for using an altered day coupon when their vehicles are used during the restricted hours.

Similarly, due to rising vehicle ownership costs as an alternative, they are not beneficial financially beyond COE expiry and COE renewal and for cars above 1600cc. Off-peak vehicles are popular among cars below 1600cc due to lower road tax rebates.[24]

Vehicles registered under the Classic Vehicle Scheme, Vintage (Restricted) Vehicle Scheme, and the Revised Vintage Vehicle Scheme bear the Vintage and Classic vehicle registration plate, which has an ordinary registration number but with white lettering on a half-red, half-yellow background, with a seal affixed on the number plate by an authorised inspection centre.

According to Land Transport Authority (LTA) guidelines, classic vehicles are required to be of at least 35 years of age, while vintage vehicles must be manufactured in 1939 or earlier. Under the Classic Vehicle Scheme and the Revised Vintage Vehicle Scheme, the maximum allowable road usage for these vehicles is limited to 45 days per year, while vehicles registered under the Vintage (Restricted) Vehicle Scheme are limited to 28 days of annual road usage.[25][26] Owners of these vehicles are required to display a valid Day License every time they use their vehicle.

A "Restricted Use" vehicle displays a registration plate with white letters on a diagonally bisected background, the upper half of which is red and the lower half emerald green. The two lead characters of the plate are "RU".

"Hazardous Cargo" plates were introduced in 2005, using normal commercial vehicle registrations, often in the 'Y' code, but with, unusually, black figures on a reflective orange background. These trucks are permitted to carry fuel, gas canisters and chemicals (flammables), and are not permitted to enter both tunnels and city areas unless route arrangements have been made in advance with the fire services. Malaysian lorries are also required to have a separate HAZMAT orange licence plate affixed to both the trailer and wagon (tow head). Such vehicles are subject to the same rules as Singapore-registered hazardous cargo vehicles.

The recent Department for Transport consultation on the future of mobility sought views on the proposed introduction and legalisation of e-scooters in the UK. Shortly after the consultation closed, e-scooter trials were brought forward and are now ongoing in limited places in the UK; legalising e-scooter riding in limited scope. Lucie Clinch and Julian Chamberlayne look at the considerations and complexities around the lawful introduction of e-scooters onto our roads.

In the UK, you can buy e-scooters for personal use, but they cannot be legally ridden on roads, cycle lanes or pavements unless the e-scooter is part of the new trials in which road and cycle lane use is permitted. There are separate rules and regulations for e-bikes (electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs) which do not yet extend to e-scooters, but it is predicted that e-scooters will be regulated in a similar manner.

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