Distinction between Social and Illegal Carpooling

3 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Transport (a) what are the distinctions between social carpooling and illegal carpooling as defined by the Ministry; and (b) what action will the Ministry take to stop the use of chat groups that facilitate illegal carpooling.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for Transport): A shared journey involving friends or colleagues, where typically no payment is required, is considered a social carpooling trip.

However, if the carpooling is among strangers, that is, the passenger does not know the driver, then, in the interest of both drivers and passengers, this must be done via licensed carpooling operators, for example, by booking GrabHitch or RydePool services; or through other smaller operators. In such cases, operators are required to verify drivers' licences and enforce a maximum of two carpool journeys a day at cost recovery. Details of booked trips are also recorded by operators, which can be used to aid investigations in the event of an incident or a dispute. Illegal carpooling trips matched through other platforms, such as Telegram chatgroups, do not have such safeguards. We would urge members of the public to book their journeys only with carpooling operators.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been taking enforcement action against drivers providing illegal carpooling services under section 101(1) of the Road Traffic Act, and will continue to monitor and conduct enforcement checks. Commuters who encounter such drivers can also file a report with LTA.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yip.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): I thank the Senior Minister of State for her reply. I have two supplementary questions. Will social carpooling individuals be put in a difficult situation if LTA tightens regulations towards illegal carpooling and how effective is LTA's enforcement in differentiating between the two practices?

Second, as many carpooling groups can operate through chatgroups, such as Telegram, how does the Ministry of Transport (MOT) intend to leverage technology and work with the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) to monitor such groups?

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. Firstly, as I have mentioned earlier, to ensure commuter safety, we have limited the matching of carpooling services with strangers to only be done via licensed carpooling operators or the smaller operators – that means business entities that are carpooling operators, because these operators maintain records of the drivers as well as the trips booked, in case of a dispute or an incident. In the past, we have had reports of disputes as well as assault cases arising from unregulated carpooling services.

But social carpooling arrangements – generally made between friends or colleagues, typically with no payment made – are permitted. LTA will only take enforcement actions against drivers who are found to have completed these carpooling trips with strangers for a fee that are matched through other channels besides the carpooling operators. And usually, this is taken either through public feedback or if LTA conducts enforcement operations that are targeted at these illegal carpooling activities. When we conduct operations, we need to get evidence that these completed trips are actually between strangers and are for a fee through a channel that is not through the carpooling operators, before we take action.

LTA will exercise reasonableness and will not intervene if they are purely social carpooling arrangements.

Basically, if the driver provides trips through these chatgroups, has a valid vocational licence and drives a public service vehicle, then, that is not illegal and it is allowed. It is only not allowed if the driver does not have a valid vocational licence and does not drive a private hire car; then, that would be illegal.