Private-hire cars bought before Feb 19 can be sold or rented out at lower rates

Companies that purchased cars for ride-hailing services before Feb 19 can resell them to individuals as private cars.

The new three-year lock-in period for private-hire cars (PHCs) applies only to cars that are new or newly registered from Feb 19, 2025, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat. With the new rule, the cars must remain classified as private-hire ones and may be transferred only to other businesses, and not to individuals.

Speaking on Feb 22 on the sidelines of the official opening of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore's (DAS) Toa Payoh Learning Centre, Mr Chee said: "All these cars that (the companies) have already bought, assuming that they do have some excess supply, can be sold; or they can find ways to rent them out, such as lowering the rental for drivers."

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) introduced the rule to stabilise the supply of vehicles used to provide ride-hailing services. LTA said it would ensure companies that acquire such vehicles predominantly lease them to drivers providing ride-hailing services.

The new rule will also prevent businesses from removing the cars from the private-hire market prematurely and selling them instead, affecting the supply of cars providing point-to-point transport services on the market.

Before this, there were no restrictions on such conversions.

Companies could convert their PHCs to passenger cars and sell them as used cars freely.

Between January 2022 and August 2024, some 1,500 chauffeured PHCs were converted out of the scheme each year within their first three years of being registered.

Mr Chee, who is also Second Minister for Finance, said: "We don't want (the companies) to flip the vehicle in and out of the PHC market. We want it to remain (as one) for at least three years before it is sold as a non-PHC vehicle. This then provides greater stability within the PHC market, which I think will be good for drivers and for commuters."

The Toa Payoh Learning Centre, officially opened by Mr Chee, is the association's second-largest such centre, expanding support for students with dyslexia and who learn differently. It brings the total number of centres providing interventional services across Singapore to 12, said DAS.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects reading and writing skills.

Those who are dyslexic may also have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear, which can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills. Dyslexia affects approximately between 4 per cent and 10 per cent of any population.

DAS said the proportion of struggling learners as a whole is significantly higher, at about 20 per cent.

Since April 2024, the association has taken the step towards inclusive education by opening up its services to enrol students without formal diagnosis of a learning difference, with many coming from lower-income families and requiring financial assistance.

"The success of this initiative, however, hinges on our ability to strengthen our bursary fund, dedicated to providing critical financial aid to students from lower-income families - who make up over 50 per cent of our student base," said DAS chairman Eric Lee.

DAS currently supports more than 3,000 children at the pre-school, primary and secondary levels with its bursary fund. It needs to raise almost $3 million each year to provide bursaries for its lower-income students and reduce the need to increase programme fees.

Mr Chee, who is an MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC where the new learning centre is located, said the centre demonstrates a collective commitment to foster a more inclusive education landscape.

When asked about preparations the People's Action Party (PAP) team in Bishan-Toa Payoh is making for the upcoming general election, Mr Chee said they have been walking the ground and engaging residents since the start of the current term in 2020.

On "renewal and rejuvenation", he said he had been walking the ground with Mr Lee Hong Chuang, the former PAP chairman in Hougang SMC.

Mr Lee contested the single-member constituency in the previous two elections.

On whether Mr Lee will be fielded in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC in the coming general election, Mr Chee said the team "will await further directions from the party headquarters".