COMPUTATION OF VEHICLE'S AGE

Mr Heng Chiang Meng asked the Minister for Communications whether he will change the present method of computing a vehicle's age to allow car owners to enjoy the full ten years' validity of their Certificates of Entitlement.

The Minister for Communications (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member is referring to the current practice of computing the age of a vehicle from the first day of the month that the vehicle is registered. For example, a vehicle registered on 31st July 1995 is deemed to have been registered on 1st July 1995. Its COE would lapse on 30th June 2005. The owner does not enjoy the full ten-year life-span of his COE.

To give vehicle owners a fairer deal, with effect from 1st August 1995, all newly-registered vehicles will have their age computed from the day of registration. For illustration, the COE of a vehicle registered on 31st July 1995 will expire on its tenth anniversary date, ie, 30th July 2005, and not 30th June 2005 as at present. Vehicle buyers will not have to rush to register vehicles in the beginning of the month, which is the current practice.

The Registry of Vehicles will consequently adjust the legal life-span of existing vehicles according to their actual registration dates. As a result, COE and PARF expiry dates for many existing vehicles will be extended slightly. ROV will also pro-rate COE rebates for existing vehicles on a daily basis, and adjust the statutory life-span of all existing vehicles according to their actual dates of registration.

Currently, due to the present method of calculating a vehicle's age, road taxes of all vehicles expire at the end of the month, either six or 12 months after the vehicles are registered. As owners tend to renew their road taxes just before they expire, the queues at ROV and its road tax collection centres are usually longer at the end of the month.

From 1st August 1995, the road tax expiry dates of newly-registered vehicles will expire exactly six or 12 months from the date of registration instead of at the end of the month. This will moderate the peak crowds and help to shorten queuing times for vehicle owners. However, existing vehicle owners will retain their current road tax expiry dates in order to avoid confusion,unless the status of their vehicles is changed, eg, they are converted from normal cars to Off-Peak Cars or vice versa.

ROV will release details of the changes closer to the date of implementation.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng (Cheng San GRC): Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for his generosity. I would like to ask him whether there are other types of fees which are similarly charged, ie, on the current basis, by his Ministry and its related organs. If so, I would like to ask the Minister whether he would also change the basis, so as to give the payers of these fees a fairer deal and for them to enjoy the full period for which the fees were paid.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, we are doing a review of the fees that are being paid in relation to motor vehicles. If it is possible for us to make the change because of computerisation, we will certainly consider to do so.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, again I thank the Minister. I would further ask the Minister to help me with another matter. Could the Minister also persuade his Cabinet colleagues to do likewise for the other Ministries?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, I do not think they need any persuasion. If it is a fairer system, and particularly with the advent of computerisation, and where things used to be done by hand before and it was not administratively convenient to do so, and where it is now more convenient to do so, it is appropriate that we make the necessary changes.

Mr Heng Chiang Meng: Sir, may I ask the Minister whether this means that we expect to see more changes from the other Ministries for a fairer system soon?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: The Member is not being fair to me. I do not think it is proper for me to commit other Ministries on this. It is for the other Ministries to look at their various systems and I am sure they will do what is fair to the consumer of their service.