Eligibility of Residents with Addresses of Non-residential Premises to Claim CDC Vouchers
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the eligibility of Singaporean households with non-residential NRIC addresses, such as farms or businesses, to claim Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers. Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim inquired if residents in areas like Lim Chu Kang could claim these vouchers despite their registered address being non-residential. Minister Edwin Tong Chun Fai replied that households facing difficulties can appeal at Community Centres by providing proof of residence like utility bills. He noted the legal requirement for NRIC holders to update addresses within 28 days and reported a 97% claim rate for 2024. The Government remains committed to monitoring the scheme and reaching out to digitally less-savvy residents to ensure all eligible households are served.
Transcript
44 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth whether the Ministry will allow eligible residents who reside in, and whose NRIC-registered addresses reflect, a non-residential premise such as farms and businesses in Lim Chu Kang, Neo Tiew estate and neighbouring areas to claim Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Since January 2023, the Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers have been split equally between the hawkers and heartland merchant category and the supermarket category. This strikes a balance between supporting Singaporean households with their daily expenses and supporting hawkers and heartland merchants.
Across the 2023 and 2024 tranches of CDC Vouchers, more than $1.3 billion worth of CDC vouchers have been spent. Of this, about 49.6% were spent at heartland merchants and 50.4% were spent at supermarkets.
Every Singaporean household can only claim one set of CDC Vouchers per tranche. Some Singaporean households might be unable to claim their CDC Vouchers for a variety of reasons, for example, when more than one Singaporean household resides in the same rental address, or their registered address is not a residential address.
Singaporean households living in co-tenanted premises are not disadvantaged as long as they can provide proof of their separate households. In such cases, the household that has yet to claim their vouchers may make an appeal at any Community Centre or Club.
If Singaporean households experience difficulty in claiming their CDC Vouchers digitally, they can bring along their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) (showing their current registered address), CDC Vouchers Scheme notification letter and relevant official documents (showing their name and current address), for example, utilities bill, property tax to the nearest Community Centre or Club to apply for their vouchers.
Under the Regulation 11A of the National Registration Act, all NRIC holders need to report a change of address within 28 days of moving into a new residence, whether the residence is located in or outside of Singapore. Singaporean households who come across previous owner or occupants who did not update their address with the authorities after they have moved out, and have made false claims of the CDC Vouchers, may report the incident to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and the Police.
For CDC Vouchers Scheme 2024, as of 31 December 2024, 97%, or about 1.3 million, Singaporean households had claimed their CDC Vouchers 2024 (January) and (June), which is the highest claim figures since the launch of the digital scheme in 2021. There remains a small group of households that did not claim, for example, households whose residents are living overseas. The CDCs continue to work on ensuring all eligible Singaporean households can claim and spend their vouchers by reaching out especially to digitally less-savvy residents.
The Government remains committed to ensuring that the CDC Vouchers Scheme best serves Singaporean households and local businesses. We will continue to monitor its implementation and review where needed to ensure its effectiveness.