Electronic day licence for Off-Peak car (OPC) owners

From today, OPC owners can buy the e-Day Licences for use from 23 November 2009. In addition to the existing channels such as SingPost outlets and Automobile Association of Singapore offices, OPC users have the added flexibility of buying the e-Day Licences online anytime between 6am and midnight daily through the following

• ONE.MOTORING portal (www.onemotoring.com.sg),
• AXS stations located island-wide; and
• Mobile-SMS services via MobileP@y. Interested parties will need to sign up for the service at www.mobilepay.sg.

From 23 November 2009, besides the benefits of extended hours and more alternative channels of purchase, motorists have the option of buying the e-Day Licence after using the OPC, as long as they do so before 2359 hours the next day. Currently, the paper licence must be purchased before the use of the vehicle.

With the launch of the e-Day Licence system, OPC drivers will no longer be inconvenienced by LTA’s enforcement officers stopping their vehicles to check for a valid paper licence. LTA’s enforcement officers will instead note down the vehicle registration number of the OPC and subsequently verify against the system records if a valid e-Day Licence had been purchased for the car for that day.

To facilitate the transition to the new e-Day Licence system, letters and guidebooks on the new system were mailed to all current OPC owners in September 2009. To further raise awareness, we have also put up posters at all SingPost and AAS outlets (please see Annex B for a sample of the poster). Information on the e-Day Licence system is also available on www.onemotoring.com.sg.

Unused Paper Day Licences

Between 26 October 2009 and 31 May 2010, OPC/ Weekend Car (WEC) owners can return any unused paper day licences that are not torn, tampered, defaced or invalidated to any SingPost outlet or to LTA’s office located at 10 Sin Ming Drive to:

• Apply for a refund (applies to the $20 paper supplementary licences for OPCs only); or
• Convert the paper licences to e-Day Licences for use from 23 November 2009 (applies to both the free supplementary licences for Weekend Cars (WEC) and the $20 supplementary licences for OPCs/WECs).

Offence to use OPC/WEC without a valid licence

OPC/WEC owners/drivers are advised that it is an offence to use an OPC/WEC during the restricted hours without a valid licence. It is also an offence if the owner/driver did not enter the usage date for its pre-paid un-dated e-Day Licence before 2359 hours on the next day after the OPC/WEC was used.

Errant driver/owner is liable to a fine of up to $5,000. For subsequent offences, the driver/ owner is liable to a fine of up to $10,000.

About the OPC Scheme

The OPC scheme replaced the WEC scheme from 1 October 1994 to help alleviate peak hour traffic. The scheme also offers an alternative and a lower-cost means for people to own cars, if they use their vehicles during off-peak periods.

The OPC scheme fits into LTA’s overall objectives to better manage congestion on our roads, particularly during the peak periods. In 2005, there were only about 5,000 OPCs. Today, there are about 46,600 OPCs, a nine-fold increase over a 3-year period. OPCs currently make up about 8 percent of the car population in Singapore.