Missed an ERP payment? Here’s how you can avoid admin charge from Oct 1
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Motorists will have five days from the date the SMS is sent to pay the missed Electronic Road Pricing charges.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE – From Oct 1, the $10 administrative charge levied on motorists who fail to pay Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges when they pass gantries will be waived if they settle their missed toll charges within a five-day grace period, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said on Aug 30.
The move comes ahead of a new feature that will be rolled out in mid-2025 on the next-generation ERP 2.0 on-board unit (OBU) that will alert motorists to missed payments as well as facilitate payments, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on the same day.
Mr Chee told reporters that the roll-out of the satellite-based ERP 2.0 system means motorists can eventually make such payments via the OBU’s display.
“With the installation of ERP 2.0, there’s no longer a need for us to send them a letter, and therefore, there’s no longer a need for LTA to charge them the $10 admin fee,” Mr Chee said at the Ministry of Transport’s office in Alexandra Road.
The installation of the OBUs will be completed by 2026.
As only about 10 per cent of Singapore’s total vehicle population is fitted with the new OBUs, Mr Chee said the move to waive the administrative charge was an interim solution that will benefit all motorists without needing to wait for ERP 2.0 to be fully installed.
At present, if a motorist does not pay ERP charges because of a defective in-vehicle unit, an expired or improperly inserted stored-value card, or insufficient value in the card, the motorist will receive a letter within several days.
The motorist will be required to settle the missed ERP charge, along with the $10 administrative charge. This fee is $8 if the motorist pays online, such as through LTA’s OneMotoring website.
The fee is meant to cover the costs LTA incurs to recover outstanding payments, said the authority. Failure to settle the missed ERP charge and administrative fee will result in a $70 fine.
Some 500,000 letters notifying motorists of their missed ERP charges are sent every year, said Mr Chee.
From Oct 1, LTA will send motorists SMS notifications for missed ERP payments instead of the current practice of mailing letters, thereby allowing the waiver of the administrative charge within the grace period.
Motorists will have five days from the date the SMS is sent to pay the missed ERP charges. They will not be required to pay the $10 administrative charge if they make payment during this grace period.
But if the missed ERP payment is not settled within this period, LTA will issue a letter to the motorist, who must pay the missed ERP charge on top of the $10 administrative charge. If the motorist still fails to do so, he will be fined $70.
LTA reminded motorists to keep their Singapore-registered mobile numbers updated on the Singpass website to ensure that they receive the SMS notification and can benefit from the grace period.
Describing the changes as a “win-win outcome” for the Government and the people, Mr Chee said LTA can use the resources, such as the time and labour saved by not having to mail letters, to focus on other important areas.
The ERP 2.0 system will replace the current 25-year-old cordon-based system, which is reaching the end of its operational lifespan.
Mr Chee said the authorities are on track to complete the OBU roll-out by 2026. LTA said earlier that the OBUs were slated to be installed in all vehicles by the end of 2025.
Mr Chee said: “I have told the team that if they need a little bit more time – because we want to do the installation properly, we don’t want to rush – it is okay if they need a few more months.”
The OBUs for the new satellite-based system are now pre-fitted in new vehicles and have progressively been replacing existing in-vehicle units since November 2023.
After this installation period is over, ERP gantries will be gradually removed and replaced with visual markers or signs that will clearly indicate ERP charging locations.
Responding to a question about other ERP 2.0 features, Mr Chee said the authorities are open to looking into features that will improve the user experience for motorists.
He added that when more vehicles are fitted with the new OBUs, he hopes to hold a hackathon to invite ideas from the industry and other parties to maximise the use of the units and bring more benefits to motorists.
In response to another question on whether payment for street-side parking will be a possible ERP 2.0 feature by mid-2025, Mr Chee said the authorities are looking into that, among other features.
The move to waive the administrative charge stems from a government-wide review of rules and processes
DPM Gan is chairing a review committee, announced earlier in 2024, which consists of Mr Chee and fellow Cabinet ministers K. Shanmugam, Tan See Leng and Desmond Lee, and Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling.
Motorists who spoke to The Straits Times welcomed the waiver of the ERP administrative fee within the grace period.
Accountant Jasmine Wong, who had the new OBU installed in her car in June, said the waiver will be useful for those who are always on the road, such as private-hire car drivers.
The 43-year-old said she is looking forward to the OBU’s function of making payments directly for missed ERP charges via the touchscreen display.
Business co-founder Davidson Chua, 25, said it would be “really convenient” to pay for missed ERP charges via the display, although he has never missed an ERP payment.
This would encourage him to install the new system in his vehicle, he added.
Shipping agent Arjuna Lim, 39, said it “may not be enough” to receive just OBU notifications about missed ERP payments, and it would be good if motorists could also be alerted via SMS and e-mail.
Ms Wong also hopes the payment process on the new OBU’s touchscreen display would be available in various languages, to better cater to older motorists.
