Stopping Illegal Practice of Carpooling Arrangements Set Up via Online Chatgroups

4 Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Minister for Transport (a) what measures are taken to stop the illegal practice of carpooling arrangements set up via online chatgroups; and (b) whether the Ministry will embark on a public education campaign on allowable forms of carpooling in Singapore.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan) (for the Minister for Transport): The Land Transport Authority (LTA) conducts enforcement actions against drivers who are found to have provided illegal car-pooling services. An individual who provides an illegal car-pooling service may face a fine of up to $3,000, up to six months' imprisonment, or both. Those who provide an illegal car-pool matching service may face a fine of up to $10,000, up to six months' imprisonment, or both. Members of the public who come across individuals providing illegal car-pooling services may write to LTA or notify LTA through the OneMotoring portal.

For safety, we strongly encourage commuters who wish to book point-to-point transport (P2P) services, including commercial car-pooling, to do so via licensed business platforms.

I want to thank the Member for her suggestion for a campaign to improve public awareness of the allowable forms of car-pooling. LTA will work with the taxi and private hire vehicle drivers' associations on this.

Mr Speaker: Ms Yeo.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Thank you, Speaker. I declare that I am the advisor to the National Private Hire Vehicles Association, an affiliate association to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

The illegal practice of carpooling arrangement set up via online chatgroups continues to be an issue, creating safety concerns for passengers and affecting the professional reputation of licensed P2P drivers. A quick search on Telegram last week using SGHitch already yields five different active chatgroups, the largest, having a member base of 49,115, and the smallest with a base of 3,000. Almost every minute, in these chats, there is an offer to or from a driver to carpool and offer from a passenger to hitch a ride.

In Singapore, it is only legal to carpool for a fee via licensed business platforms. Given that serious safety issues can come with the use of such unlicensed services – from the outrage of modesty to the most recent case of death where the driver did not even have a Class 3 licence – what more can the Ministry do to educate the public on the use of such services? And would the Ministry consider also disallowing paid carpooling amongst strangers, even in matching platforms for the safety of all commuters?

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan: I want to thank the Member for her supplementary questions. As she has noted, currently, we only allow carpooling services if it is through a licensed carpooling operator or through a permitted licence-exempt operator, which is one that has got a fleet of less than 800 cars. These operators are able to record the driver as well as the trip, check on the validity of the driver's licence and also enforce on the maximum two trips per day requirement. This really is to protect the commuters or passengers' safety, provide the commuter with some safeguards.

Carpooling services acquired through informal channels like Telegram, SGHitch that are non-business entities are not allowed. They are banned.

There is some value in providing or allowing some of these carpooling services. Because it optimises vehicle road capacity, the use of the vehicle, as well as, of course, reduce carbon footprint. Totally banning carpooling services will not necessarily remove the problem. In fact, it may exacerbate the problem. If you look at the informal channels, as the Member has rightly pointed out, there is demand. So, when there is demand, there is supply.

And therefore I agree with the Member that besides enforcement actions through enforcement operations that we will continue to do, it is good to intensify our public education efforts to raise awareness among the public that their safety is not protected if they go through these informal channels, and that if they require such carpooling services, they should do it through the licensed or licence-exempt permitted operators. We will work with the associations to look at such a campaign.