REASONS FOR INTRODUCING `Q' PLATE CARS

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon asked the Minister for Labour if he will indicate where will the Jurong East Regional Centre for one-stop payment of bills be located and when the centre will be ready.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: The proposal to set up Government Service Centre is part of the Service Improvement Unit's (SIU) long term strategy to encourage different Government agencies to examine interagency efficiency from the customer's point of view. It is still in its initial planning stage. SIU has appointed a Working Committee to study the concept.

Ministries will be requested to consider setting up Government Service Centres by co-locating several different agencies for the convenience of the public. SIU considers the Regional (Town) Centres, conceived under the Concept Plan review undertaken by the Ministry of National Development, the ideal locations for the Government Service Centres. The Regional (Town) Centres are being developed to enable both public and private sector organisations to decentralise and bring their services closer to thier customers.

In the case of the Jurong East Regional Centre, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is currently working on the design parameters to guide developments. URA will take into consideration the requirements of a government service centre. The establishment of such a service centre will only be possible when URA launch the development for the Jurong East Regional Town Centre.

Mr Chia Shi Teck asked the Minister for Communications what were the reasons for introducing the registration of company `Q' plate cars, whether the reasons are still valid and, if not, whether he will scrap the classification.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: `Q' plate cars were introducted as a result of the tax shield enjoyed by companies. Car expenses incurred by companies are tax-deductible. Private individuals can thus exploit this by registering cars under a company's name for private use.

To discourage this, a ceiling of $35,000 on capital allowance has been imposed, and expenses incurred are only tax-deductible in the ratio of $35,000 to the purchase price of the car. Company cars pay $5,000 for Registration Fee (five times that for private cars) and double the quota premium, road tax and Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) fees payable by private cars.

From the land transport point of view, all cars whether privately or company owned should be subject to the same vehicle restraints. My Ministry will consult the Ministry of Finance to review the tax regime to achieve this objective.