All private-hire cars used to provide chauffeured services must display a pair of tamper-evident decals on the front and back windscreen of their vehicles from 1 July 2017, Land transport Authority (LTA) announced today.
LTA said that this is to allow for easier identification of registered private-hire cars and facilitate enforcement against offences such as unregistered cars providing chauffeured services, or private-hire cars picking up passengers by street hail.
It noted that the tamper-evident decals should be affixed to the top right corner of the front windscreen and top left corner of the rear windscreen when viewed from the outside of the vehicle and must be visible at all times.
Owners who registered their private-hire cars after 28 February 2017, on the other hand, will have to get the tamper-evident decals affixed at their own cost. The fee for obtaining and affixing a pair of tamper-evident decals will be $20 (including GST).
LTA added that private-hire car owners can only obtain and get their decals affixed at the following locations from 17 April 2017 onwards:
- VICOM/JIC inspection centres
- STA inspection centres
- Uber and Grab affixing centres
LTA also said that it will be working with eligible companies with large fleets of private-hire cars to allow them to affix the decals at their own premises to ease implementation. Uber and Grab will only be allowed to affix the decals at their own premises until 30 June 2017, and only for private-hire cars registered on or before 28 February 2017.
LTA stressed that the tamper-evident decals will be inspected when private-hire cars undergo regular vehicle inspections. On top of the current vehicle inspection fee, private-hire car owners will need to pay an additional fee of $10.70 (including GST) for the inspection.
“Owners of private-hire cars that fail these inspections will not be allowed to renew their road tax,” the Authority added.
Those who wish to find out more about the periodic inspection for private-hire cars may contact VICOM at 6458 4555 or visit their website at http://www.vicom.com.sg/index.htm or STA Inspection at 6452 1398 or visit their website at http://www.stai.com.sg/index.php.
