Revising Free-entry Time for Malaysian Cars into Singapore

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport since cars under the Off-Peak Car scheme are allowed on the road only after 7pm and most Electronic Road Pricing gantries stop charging motorists only after 8pm; (a) whether the Ministry will consider revising the free entry time for Malaysian cars into Singapore on weekdays to be after 7pm instead of the current 5pm to be in alignment with the current scheme for local vehicles; (b) why Malaysian cars entering Singapore on weekends are exempted from paying a fee; and (c) on average, how many Malaysian cars enter Singapore on weekdays and weekends during the past six months compared to a year ago.

Mdm Speaker, the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) fee aims to minimise the cost difference between owning and using a foreign-registered vehicle and a Singapore-registered vehicle here in Singapore. This framework, however, provides for VEP free hours and days such as during the weekends when the traffic on our roads is less heavy, so as not to unduly discourage foreigners from visiting Singapore.

Currently, about one in 10 foreign-registered cars entering Singapore needs to pay the VEP fee, or about 10% of them. The average daily number of foreign cars entering Singapore on weekdays and weekends is 10,900 and 12,100 respectively over the six months' period between April and September of this year. The corresponding figures for last year were 11,900 and 13,600 respectively. So, there has been a decline from last year to the same time period this year, and this is from April to September period.

I note the Member's suggestion on revising the VEP-free periods. We will consider this and we will also factor in the possibility of Malaysia implementing its proposed charge on non-Malaysia-registered vehicles entering Malaysia.

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