Over 300,000 Public Transport Vouchers (PTV), worth over S$15 million, have been distributed to low-income households under the extended PTV exercise in 2019.

Starting in November 2019, the vouchers are worth S$50.

The vouchers used to be S$30 in 2018.

They can be used to to up fare cards, or buy monthly concession passes.

The scheme is slated to disburse 450,000 such vouchers in total.

The figure of 300,000 also includes the first tranche of PTVs that were directly disbursed to low-income households under the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance (SMTA) and Long-Term Assistance (LTA) schemes.

Eligible households

Eligible households are those whose monthly income from all sources do not exceed S$1,200.

Households may still apply for the voucher until Jan. 31, 2021, and can do so at their local community centres or clubs.

The vouchers must be redeemed by June 30, 2021.

"All sources" refers to regular income from employment and business, as well as income from investment (e.g. interest and dividends), rental and other sources, such as pension and cash contributions from relatives who are not staying in the same household.

It also includes regular government transfers such as the Workfare Income Supplement.

Irregular receipts such as gambling windfalls, one-off payments such as insurance claims or ad-hoc government transfers are not included.

Automatically-qualifying households

Around 30,000 low-income households under SMTA and LTA will automatically qualify for the PTV and receive a PTV redemption letter directly in the mail.

They will need both the letter and their NRIC to redeem the vouchers.

These PTV letters will be disbursed in two tranches, the first in mid-December 2020, which will benefit those under both schemes as of Aug. 31, 2020.

The second tranche will be progressively disbursed from mid-March 2021.

This will benefit ComCare recipients who are on SMTA or LTA as at Jan. 31, 2021, if they did not receive the PTV from the first tranche.

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