Human error caused announcement on private-hire cars to be prematurely released: Amy Khor
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A new policy about private-hire car ownership was mistakenly released before the planned announcement in March.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE – Human error by a team at the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA’s) information technology vendor NCS resulted in information on a new policy about private-hire car ownership being revealed weeks earlier than planned.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor told Parliament on March 3 that NCS had made “a deployment error”.
This caused information on a new three-year lock-in period
NCS had told The Straits Times that the information was mistakenly released on Feb 16.
Dr Khor said the lines of code that “controlled when this lock-in period message should be displayed and to which users” were not deployed. As a result, the information was released to users who were on the service to register transactions involving PHCs.
Dr Khor said this in response to questions from Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa, who had asked about the circumstances that led to the unintended early release of the information. Ms Poa had also asked whether an investigation will be carried out, and whether any steps will be taken to prevent a similar error.
To prevent a recurrence, Dr Khor said NCS has rolled out additional checks before and after deployments, and has also introduced a buddy system, in which a senior developer reviews the work done before any updates to the system are rolled out.
On Feb 19, LTA announced that companies will have to keep their PHCs meant for ride-hailing services for three years before they can convert these vehicles out of the scheme to be passenger cars, or transfer them to individuals.
When the agency and the Ministry of Transport (MOT) realised on Feb 18 that the information had been prematurely released, “we decided to make a public announcement on the policy change on Feb 19”, said Dr Khor.
“This was because there was an ongoing certificate of entitlement bidding exercise from Feb 17 to Feb 19, and we wanted to ensure fairness and transparency to all parties,” she added.
The agency also wanted bidders to have enough time to decide whether to adjust their bids before the bidding cycle closed at 4pm on Feb 19, Dr Khor said.
LTA said on Feb 19 that the imposition of the three-year lock-in period will ensure companies that acquire such vehicles will lease them predominantly to drivers providing ride-hailing services.
It will also prevent businesses from removing the cars from the private-hire market prematurely and selling them instead, which would affect 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.
Noting that other MPs had also filed questions on the lock-in period for PHCs, Dr Khor said these will be addressed when MOT’s budget is debated in the coming days.
In Parliament on March 3, Dr Khor also responded to a separate question on electric vehicles (EVs).
Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng asked whether MOT will consider offering more rebates under the Electric Vehicle Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI) scheme.
Mr Ng also asked whether the EEAI scheme will be extended till the end of 2026.
Dr Khor noted that the scheme would be reviewed later in 2025, “taking into consideration factors such as EV adoption rates and upfront cost difference across powertrains”. A powertrain is a system inside a vehicle that propels it forward.
Under the scheme, buyers of EVs get a 45 per cent rebate off the additional registration fee (ARF) for electric cars and taxis, capped at $15,000. ARF is a tax that is levied when a vehicle is registered here, and it is calculated based on a percentage of the vehicle’s open market value.
There is also a rebate of $25,000 for cars and $37,500 for taxis under the Vehicular Emissions Scheme. The maximum rebate covers cars and taxis with zero tailpipe emissions under Band A1 of the scheme, which includes most EV models.
The EEAI took effect in 2021. It was due to expire in December 2023, but was extended by two years until end-2025.
