EXTENSION OF CERTIFICATES OF ENTITLEMENT

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked the Minister for Communications whether his Ministry will exercise leniency not to penalise those motorists who forget to insert their CashCards but make an effort to re-enter the Electronic Road Pricing gantry (within 10 minutes) subsequently.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system treats each vehicle passing under an ERP gantry as distinct and separate. Hence, on each passing, a deduction of an appropriate ERP charge will be made. When a motorist passes an ERP gantry with no CashCard inserted in the In-vehicle Unit (IU), a violation is deemed to have been committed.

A scheme whereby a motorist can make up for any earlier violation by re-passing under an ERP gantry within a specified time will generate unnecessary traffic circulation on the roads in the vicinity of the ERP gantries. This will contribute to traffic congestion, increase average travel times and pollute the environment. All this is of course uneconomical.

I would therefore strongly advise motorists that they should make it a part of their motoring habit to insert the CashCard into the IU before the start of a journey.

Mr Tay Beng Chuan asked the Minister for Communications if the Land Transport Authority will consider extending the validity of certificates of entitlement for vehicles tested to be in good condition to 15 years.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: When the Vehicle Quota System was first introduced, the validity period for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) was fixed at 10 years to tie in with the time limit for the Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) benefits. The COE thus represents the right for a vehicle owner to use his vehicle on the roads for a period of 10 years.

If an owner feels that his vehicle is in good condition and wishes to use it beyond 10 years, he can revalidate the COE upon its expiry for either 5 or 10 years by paying 50% or 100% of the prevailing quota premium respectively. It would not be fair for the Government to extend the COE validity for vehicles tested to be in good condition to 15 years when the owners only paid for a 10-year COE.

If we were to extend the validity period of all COEs, we can expect the quota premium to be higher as a higher value will be attached to the longer life-span. In addition, if COEs were to have a longer validity of say 15 or 20 years, the total number of COEs that can be released will have to be reduced. A reduced COE quota is again likely to lead to higher premiums. Higher COE premiums will not only have an adverse impact on those who are revalidating their COEs, but will also put the new vehicle buyers at a disadvantage.

The Government Parliamentary Committee (Communications) is in the midst of reviewing the different aspects of the Vehicle Quota System. I believe they will examine the issue on the validity of COEs in their review.