PARKING PLACES (AMENDMENT) BILL

Column: 576

PARKING PLACES (AMENDMENT) BILL: Order for Second Reading read.

The Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Column: 577

Sir, this Bill contains a range of amendments, arising from the Land Transport Authority (LTA)'s review of its rules to reduce red tape in the licensing of parking places. The amendments will not only serve to help businesses reduce costs of compliance but also improve the administration of parking places. Sir, this Bill covers the following key areas:

Firstly, deregulates private parking places for the parking or housing of non-heavy vehicles;

Secondly, empowers LTA to obtain information relating to private parking places and to enter private parking places for survey or inspection;

Thirdly, facilitates the issuance of scripless Vehicle Parking Certificates (VPCs); and

Finally, enables Superintendents of car parks to install equipment in public parking places.

Let me now, Sir, elaborate on these areas and highlight the key provisions in the Bill for the proposed amendments.

Deregulation of Private Parking Places

Sir, I will explain the rationale for the deregulation of private parking places. The Parking Places Act (or PPA) currently stipulates that all private parking places must be licensed. LTA has reviewed the need for licensing. I am pleased to inform the House that it intends to deregulate the licensing of private parking places for non-heavy vehicles, as proposed in clause 3. Doing away with this licensing requirement will be welcomed by the business community and will help reduce cost by an estimated $1 million annually.

LTA has proposed the deregulation as the majority of the existing licensing conditions for these parking places, such as keeping the place in good and clean

Column: 578

condition, and not permitting a vehicle to be parked in any manner that would obstruct free flow of traffic, are non-critical. Moreover, the operators' own vested interest will ensure that the parking places are managed prudently; in other words, industry self-regulation is feasible. Other conditions, such as the need to ensure that the private parking places continue to comply with the geometric and provision requirements and are not altered without the approval of the Authority,

are also provided for in the Parking Places (Provision of Parking Places and Parking Spaces) Rules and duplicated in the PPA. Therefore, they can be removed, as these controls are still retained and are already provided for in other existing rules. For the remaining licensing conditions, these can be provided for explicitly in the PPA, which I will address next.

Authorisation of LTA staff to require private parking place operators to furnish information and to enter private parking places for survey or inspection

Sir, LTA today collects information, such as occupancy rates, parking charges and operation hours of private parking places. Such information is useful for the parking authority when it reviews the parking policies and establishes guidelines for new parking systems. Currently, LTA is also empowered to enter the premises of its licensees to investigate feedback on the inadequacies of the private parking places.

With the deregulation of private parking places for non-heavy vehicles, LTA will still require certain information from the operators of private parking places. As the parking authority, it will also need to retain powers to enter these parking places to carry out inspections.

However, there is no express provision in the PPA that provides for these powers, as prevailing licensing conditions

Column: 579

allow the Authority to do so. As these conditions will cease to apply after the deregulation, clause 5 creates new sections in the PPA to empower the Authority and Superintendent to require private parking place operators to furnish information and to enter private parking places for survey or inspection, for purposes of the performance of the functions and duties under the PPA.

Implementation of scripless Vehicle Parking Certificates (VPCs)

Currently, the PPA empowers LTA to make rules to regulate the parking of heavy vehicles through the issuance of Vehicle Parking Certificates (VPCs). To increase convenience to users by removing the need to physically apply for approvals and also to provide applicants more options, LTA intends to allow online application and approval of VPCs. Clause 4(a) amends the PPA to facilitate the issuance of VPCs in any form, including electronic form.

Facilitation of superintendents of car parks to install equipment in public parking places

For the administration of the PPA, an officer each from the HDB and URA are appointed as the Deputy Superintendent of Car Parks. These officers are responsible for managing the public parking places, including the installation of equipment in the public parking places for collecting parking charges. However, currently, only the Authority is empowered to install such equipment, thus making it a legal requirement for the Superintendents to seek LTA's approval. To streamline this process, clause 4(b) amends the rule-making powers of the LTA to enable the Superintendent to install equipment in public parking places without the need to obtain the approval of the Authority.

Column: 580

The remaining amendments proposed in the Bill concern the transitional provisions and consequential amendments to the PPA arising from the amendments I have just outlined.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mrs Lim Hwee Hua].

[Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]

The Chairman: The citation year "2004" will be changed to "2005" as indicated in the Order Paper Supplement.

Clauses 1 to 6 inclusive ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.