Renewal of COEs for Five Years

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport (a) in the last three quarters of 2020, how many COEs have been renewed for five and 10 years respectively; and (b) whether LTA will consider allowing renewal of five-year COEs more than once, adhering to the price in the first round of renewal to prevent speculative activities.

In the last three quarters of 2020, 13,637 Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) were renewed for five years and 13,281 COEs were renewed for 10 years.

If we allow COEs to be renewed for five years more than once, then there will be fewer COEs being recycled for bidding, and this will tilt the current balance in addressing the needs of existing and prospective car owners.

It is a balance that we must continue to strike carefully. The current rule of a single five-year renewal came about because when the system was first implemented, all COEs were meant to be valid for 10 years. But there were existing owners who felt that their vehicles may not last another 10 years, so an exception was made to provide a one-off five-year renewal option, on the condition that their vehicles must be deregistered at the end of five years.

Most owners have de-registered their vehicles as required but understandably, some owners feel differently after five years. Allowing this group of owners to renew their COEs for another five years means allowing them to pay for a 10-year COE in two instalments, which is also unfair to those who decided to pay the entire amount upfront.

Taking all these factors into consideration, LTA has preferred to keep to the existing rule.