Financial Penalties Imposed on Public Transport Operators

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the amount of the total financial penalties imposed on each of the two public transport operators (PTOs) in each of the last three years; and (b) whether the PTOs are allowed to factor these penalties in their operational expenses and, if not, how does the Public Transport Council ensure that these penalties are not included as part of the PTOs' operational expenses.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew: SMRT was fined a total of $2.2 million for incidents occurring in 2011; $0.5 million for incidents occurring in 2012; and $0.36 million for incidents occurring in 2013. SBST was fined $0.4 million for incidents occurring in 2012; and $0.25 million for incidents occurring in 2013.

As publicly-listed companies, the public transport operators (PTOs) account for all regulatory penalties in their annual reports and income statements.

The Public Transport Council (PTC) does not consider the financial penalties imposed on the PTOs when deciding on fare adjustments. The fare adjustment quantum is determined using the fare formula, which is based on macroeconomic indicators, such as the Core-Consumer Price Index, Wage Index, Energy Index and a Productivity Extraction component. The fare formula clearly does not allow the PTOs to pass on the cost of financial penalties to commuters through higher fares.