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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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SPEECH BY MR YEO CHEOW TONG,MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT,
AT THE SECOND READING OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT COUNCIL (AMENDMENT) BILL,
2005, 17 OCTOBER 2005, 3.45 PM |
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MINISTER¡¯S SPEECH FOR THE SECOND READING OF THE
PUBLIC TRANSPORT COUNCIL (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2005 |
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Mr Speaker, Sir |
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I beg to move that the Bill be now read a
second time. |
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Sir, this Bill seeks to amend the Public
Transport Council Act (Chapter 259B). |
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The Public Transport Council or PTC Act was
first enacted in August 1987 to provide for the establishment of the
Public Transport Council to license bus services and approve public
transport fares. |
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The PTC Act was last amended in 1999. The
Ministry and the PTC have reviewed the PTC Act in the light of
developments in the public transport industry. The Bill provides for the
following key amendments which will improve the regulation of the public
transport industry: |
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(I) the introduction of a bus service
operator licensing regime; |
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(II)the introduction of a regulatory regime
for ticket payment services; |
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(III) enhancement of the PTC¡¯s regulatory
power to effect fare adjustments; |
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(IV) the formalisation of the Fuel
Equalisation Fund; |
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(V) the introduction of a penalty fee system
to deter fare evasion; and |
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Lastly, other amendments to improve the
PTC¡¯s operational and regulatory effectiveness. |
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I will elaborate on these areas and
highlight key provisions in the Bill. |
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(I) To Introduce a Bus Service Operator
Licensing Regime |
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Sir, the PTC Act will be amended to provide
for the introduction of a Bus Service Operator Licensing regime to
regulate providers of basic scheduled public bus services at both the
operator and the network levels. |
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Currently, the Act only empowers the PTC to
license individual bus routes, although in practice, the PTC has been
administratively imposing requirements and performance standards at the
operator or network level. |
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Clause 11 empowers the PTC to license and
regulate basic bus service operators, namely SBS Transit and SMRT Buses.
The PTC already audits basic bus service operators on their service and
performance standards, and will continue to review these standards going
forward. |
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With the Bus Service Operator Licensing
regime in place, PTC will be able to enforce such standards and
licensing conditions by imposing financial penalties of up to $100,000
for any breach of conditions or standards, and in the extreme, by
revoking the licence. |
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The PTC will continue to regulate niche bus
services such as the Scheme B and fare-charging condominium services
through the issuance of Bus Service Licenses for individual routes. |
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These provisions in the PTC Bill will
further enhance the PTC¡¯s effectiveness in ensuring the quality of
public bus services and protecting the interests of commuters. However,
in enhancing the PTC¡¯s regulatory effectiveness, I would also emphasise
that the PTC would be mindful to avoid over-regulation and unnecessarily
raising compliance costs for bus service operators. |
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(II) Regulatory Regime for Ticket Payment
Service |
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The Bill provides for the introduction of a
regulatory regime for ticket payment services. The ez-link card system
has become the predominant mode of payment for public transport since it
was first introduced in the year 2002. |
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To safeguard commuters¡¯ interests in areas
such as fees for usage of ez-link cards and service standards for sales,
replacement, refund and top-up services, we will introduce a regulatory
regime for ticket payment services. |
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The PTC will therefore expand its scope to
also regulate the two major providers of ticket payment services, namely
EZ-Link Pte Ltd and Transit Link Pte Ltd. |
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Clause 11 empowers the PTC to impose and
enforce ticket payment service requirements and standards. |
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Similar to the Bus Service Operator
Licensing Regime, the PTC will be able to enforce regulatory compliance
through financial penalties of up to $100,000 or by revoking the licence. |
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More..... |
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Source:
www.mot.gov.sg Media Release 17 Oct 2005 |
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FrontPage Edition: Mon 17 Oct 2005
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