SINGAPORE - From April 2020, owners of personal mobility devices (PMDs) have to send their devices for inspection every two years, Senior Minister of State for Transport Janil Puthucheary said on Monday (Oct 7).
Retailers will also have to get e-scooters inspected and registered before they can sell the devices.
The new announcements in Parliament come as the Transport Ministry ramps up efforts to improve PMD safety, amid growing concerns about the fire risks and danger to pedestrians posed by the devices.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had announced the inspection regime in August this year but did not say whether it would be a periodic or a one-off inspection.
It had said then that devices which are declared to possess a safety standard will be scheduled for inspections from April next year.
Dr Janil told the House one reason for the regular inspection is to detect and weed out illegally modified devices.
The LTA is also studying other measures, including import controls, to tackle the problem of non-compliant PMDs, he said, adding that the penalties for illegal modification and other offences are being reviewed as well.
The mandatory inspections for e-scooters will be done at nine inspection centres set up islandwide.
The penalty for failing to do it by the stipulated deadline is a fine of up to $1,000 and/or a jail term of up to three months.
Dr Janil was replying to Ms Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC), who also wanted to know how many illegally modified e-scooters had been seized since July when users were required to register their PMDs.
He said such scooters, often modified to increase their speed and range of travel, were among the 161 non-compliant devices seized by the LTA between July and end-September.
Dr Janil also said on Monday that the Government is paying the cost of getting rid of PMDs that do not possess the UL2272 fire safety certification. Users have been given until March 31, 2020 to dispose of such devices at specified places, for free.
Those who dispose of their registered devices by Nov 30 this year will be given $100.
Dr Janil also said, in reply to Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten), that the LTA has received more than 2,800 applications for the early disposal incentive scheme, and collected more than 940 PMDs between Sept 23 and Oct 3.
Those who own unregistered e-scooters or other PMDs, such as hoverboards and unicycles, can still dispose of them for free by March 31 next year, but will not get the $100 incentive.
"Every non-UL2272 device safely disposed of is one less potential fire risk," he added.
