Three male motorists were disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a year after they were convicted of providing illegal car or motorcycle pooling services.
The trio were also handed fines of S$1,800 each.
The three men were booked during enforcement operations carried out by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on May 3, 2023. Their vehicles were impounded at the time for investigations.
First person to be convicted for providing illegal motorcycle-pooling services
One of the men, 33-year-old Muhammad Husabullah Rosly, was the first person to be convicted of conveying passengers for hire and reward using a motorcycle, reported The Straits Times.
Court documents revealed that Husabullah was around a drop-off point of Block 505D Yishun Street 51 with his motorcycle when he was noticed by an LTA enforcement officer.
Even though Hasbullah did not know the passenger who he was about to pick up, he told the enforcement officer that the passenger was a friend.
Follow-up investigations also found that Hasbullah's passenger had initially planned to head to ITE College West that day and agreed to pay him S$18 for the trip.
Previously, LTA had released a statement that motorcycles were not allowed to be used to convey passengers for hire and reward regardless of booking platforms, citing "safety risks" involved.
Other two men provided illegal car-pooling services
The other two men, 21-year-old Muhammad Nasrulhaq Shamsulnizam and 36-year-old De Cruz Wayne Randall, were both convicted of providing illegal carpooling services.
Nasrulhaq was found to have collected S$24 after ferrying a passenger from Rivervale Drive to Thomson Plaza by car on May 3.
Similarly, Randall was also found to have transported a passenger by car from Compassvale Road to Kallang Leisure Park on the same date, even though he did not have a valid vocational licence and his vehicle did not carry a valid public service vehicle licence at the time.
Additionally, Randall was handed a charge of using a vehicle without insurance coverage under the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act, as his vehicle's insurance policy did not cover third-party passengers at the time.
For each count of providing illegal carpooling services without a vocational licence, or using an unlicensed vehicle, the duo could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$3,000, or both.
What kind of car-pooling is allowed?
In an earlier statement given to Mothership, an LTA spokesperson said that only car-pooling arrangements facilitated through licensed business platforms, such as GrabHitch, and other license-exempt business platforms are currently permitted.
There are no restrictions on social car-pooling amongst friends and colleagues.
However, car-pooling matched through informal non-business mediums, such as via Telegram groups, continues to be disallowed.
There have been multiple reported cases of harassment and injury during such rides.
LTA will continue to "monitor and take enforcement action" against those providing illegal car-pooling, as well as car-pooling matching, services, added the spokesperson.
Top images via Land Transport Authority's Facebook