Singapore's largest bike-sharing operator looks set to be no more.

Mobike has applied to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to seek consent to surrender its bicycle-sharing licence in Singapore on Monday, March 11.

The bike-sharing market looks set to shrink further as a result.

LTA said on Tuesday it is assessing Mobike’s request.

Mobike owner's response

In response to queries by The Straits Times, Mobike owner Meituan Dianping said:

"We can confirm that Mobike has submitted a proposal to Singapore LTA for a managed and orderly withdrawal from the market."

This move is part of the company's plan to rationalise Mobike's Southeast Asia operations, the spokesperson said.

A recent Techcrunch article said Mobike has laid off its operations teams in the Asia Pacific region to concentrate on its China operations.

No confirmed exit date

While Meituan did not specify a date to leave Singapore, it said it will leave in an organised and responsible manner if and when they do.

"We will work with LTA to explore all options, including the potential to transfer our operations or licence, to existing licensees, to minimise impact to consumers," said the spokesperson.

Must remove bicycles and return deposits

Should Mobike leave Singapore, the operator must remove all its bicycles from public spaces and provide refunds for user deposits and credits, said LTA.

The authority also said:

"LTA is assessing Mobike's request, and will work with Mobike to ensure that it has fully explored all options, including its proposal to transfer existing assets or operations to existing licensees, to minimise impact to consumers."

Mobike has also withdrawn its applications for a PMD-sharing licence and to increase its maximum allowable shared bicycle fleet size.

Only two viable operators to choose from

With Mobike gone, customers will only have two viable bike-sharing services to choose from, Sg Bike and Anywheel.

Both operate a combined fleet of 4,000 bicycles.

A third operator Qiqi Zhixiang (骑骑智享) still appears to be active in Singapore, but it does not seem to have much presence here.

Decline in bike-sharing

The sudden decline in bike-sharing services here, after a period of unregulated growth when there were as many as 100,000 bicycles scattered in public, can be attributed to a couple of reasons.

For starters, the strict licensing conditions implemented by LTA, which is meant to protect public spaces, can be very onerous for operators.

For example, operators have to implement Quick Response (QR) code geo-fencing to deter indiscriminate parking and ensure that bicycles that are improperly parked are removed quickly.

Many customers were also previously burnt by oBike's failure to return their deposits after its sudden exit from the market in June 2018.

In February 2017, Mobike raised funding led by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and hedge fund Hillhouse Capital, bringing its total new funding at the start of that year to more than US$300 million.

Mobike chose to refund the deposits of users in June 2018 after oBike collapsed in Singapore.

Top image by Joshua Lee