Division 2 — Codes of practice and Directions
Codes of practice for licensees
30.—(1)  The LTA may, from time to time —
(a)issue one or more codes of practice applicable to licensees or specified types of licensees;
(b)approve as a code of practice applicable to licensees or specified types of licensees any document prepared by a person other than the LTA if the LTA considers the document as suitable for this purpose; or
(c)amend or revoke any code of practice issued under paragraph (a) or approved under paragraph (b),
with respect to all or any of the matters in subsection (2) or (3), as the case may be.
(2)  In the case of a code of practice applicable to a licensee holding a street‑hail service licence, the matters for the purposes of subsection (1) include any of the following:
(a)the condition, maintenance, construction, use and deployment of the taxis owned or made available by the licensee in providing the street‑hail service;
(b)measures directed towards ensuring the security and safety of any of the following:
(i)passengers of taxis used in the provision of the street‑hail service;
(ii)related drivers of the licensee while they are engaged in carrying out the street‑hail service;
(c)relating to the conduct of the employees and agents of the licensee, and individuals who are related drivers of the licensee, in connection with the provision of the street‑hail service;
(d)measures to deal with customer complaints and lost property found in taxis made available by the licensee in providing the street‑hail service, and the processes to handle and dispose of such complaints and property;
(e)measures to deal with relevant offences, safety incidents and accidents involving the following, and reporting to the LTA those safety incidents and accidents:
(i)taxis made available by the licensee to provide the street‑hail service;
(ii)related drivers of the licensee;
(f)measures to facilitate the access to, and use of, the street‑hail service by individuals with disabilities;
(g)advance reporting to the LTA of related drivers of the licensee and taxis withdrawn from engagement or use in providing the street‑hail service;
(h)measures necessary for licensees to deal with any plague, epidemic, fire, flood, earthquake or disaster (natural or otherwise) or any public emergency;
(i)performance standards relating to the provision of street‑hail services and the quality of other aspects of the provision of the street‑hail service, such as —
(i)minimum service levels determined according to such things as the specified periods of time during which the street‑hail service is to be provided, the extent of the service and the frequency of operation of that service during specified periods; and
(ii)performance outcomes for frequency, regularity, punctuality and accessibility of the street‑hail service, and of customer information and service;
(j)relating to the provision of estimates, publication and display of fares (including payment surcharges, and charges on transactions involving payment of a street‑hail fare) for or in connection with the provision of the street‑hail service, including the following:
(i)prepayment, collection, the requirements for receipts and the information to be included in receipts;
(ii)processes for calculating fares for the provision of street‑hail services, including the transparency and availability of those services;
(k)the advertising of street‑hail services and street‑hail fares;
(l)relating to the expansion of the street‑hail service by reference to a maximum rate of increase in the number of taxis that may be owned by a street‑hail service licensee during the validity period of the licence to provide the service or any other suitable factor;
(m)other performance standards relating to street‑hail services.
(3)  In the case of a code of practice applicable to a licensee holding a ride‑hail service licence, the matters for the purposes of subsection (1) include any of the following:
(a)the condition, maintenance, construction, use and deployment of the bookable vehicles made available through the ride‑hail service to carry out the on‑demand passenger transport service related to the ride‑hail service;
(b)measures directed towards ensuring the security and safety of any of the following:
(i)passengers of bookable vehicles made available through the ride‑hail service to carry out the on‑demand passenger transport service relating to the ride‑hail service;
(ii)participating bookable drivers of those bookable vehicles while they are engaged in carrying out the on‑demand passenger transport service relating to the ride‑hail service;
(c)relating to the conduct of the employees and agents of the licensee, and individuals who are participating bookable drivers of the licensee, in connection with the provision of the on‑demand passenger transport service related to the ride‑hail service;
(d)measures to deal with customer complaints and lost property found in bookable vehicles made available through the ride‑hail service, and the processes to handle and dispose of such complaints and property;
(e)measures to deal with relevant offences, safety incidents and accidents involving the following, and reporting to the LTA those safety incidents and accidents:
(i)bookable vehicles made available through the ride‑hail service to carry out the on‑demand passenger transport service related to the ride‑hail service;
(ii)participating bookable drivers of the licensee;
(f)measures to facilitate the access to, and use of, the ride‑hail service by individuals with disabilities;
(g)advance reporting to the LTA of participating bookable drivers of the licensee and bookable vehicles withdrawn from engagement or use in providing the on‑demand passenger transport service made available through the ride‑hail service;
(h)measures necessary for licensees to deal with any plague, epidemic, fire, flood, earthquake or disaster (natural or otherwise) or any public emergency;
(i)performance standards relating to the provision of ride‑hail services and the quality of other aspects of the provision of the ride‑hail service, such as —
(i)minimum service levels determined according to such things as the specified periods of time during which the ride‑hail service is to be provided, the extent of the service and the frequency of operation of that service during specified periods; and
(ii)performance outcomes for frequency, regularity, punctuality and accessibility of the ride‑hail service, and of customer information and service;
(j)relating to the provision of estimates, publication and display of fares (including payment surcharges, and charges on transactions involving payment of a ride‑hail fare) for or in connection with the provision of the ride‑hail service, including the following:
(i)prepayment, collection, the requirements for receipts and the information to be included in receipts;
(ii)processes for calculating fares for the provision of ride‑hail services, including the transparency and availability of those services;
(k)the advertising of ride‑hail services and ride‑hail fares;
(l)other performance standards relating to ride‑hail services.
(4)  A code of practice may, in particular, specify the duties and obligations of any licensee in relation to its business operation insofar as it relates to the provision of point‑to‑point passenger transport services in Singapore.
(5)  If any provision in any code of practice is inconsistent with any provision of this Act or the Regulations, that provision, to the extent of the inconsistency —
(a)is to have effect subject to this Act and the Regulations; or
(b)having regard to this Act and the Regulations, is not to have effect.
(6)  Where a code of practice is issued, approved, amended or revoked by the LTA under subsection (1), the LTA must —
(a)give notice of the issue, approval, amendment or revocation (as the case may be) of the code of practice to every licensee to whom the code of practice applies;
(b)specify in the notice mentioned in paragraph (a) the date of issue, approval, amendment or revocation, as the case may be; and
(c)ensure that, so long as the code of practice remains in force, copies of that code of practice, and of all amendments to that code of practice, are available for inspection, free of charge, by the licensees to whom the code of practice applies.
(7)  No code of practice, no amendment to such a code of practice, and no revocation of any such code of practice, has any force or effect until the notice relating to that is given in accordance with subsection (6).
(8)  A code of practice issued or approved under this section does not have legislative effect.
(9)  Subject to subsection (10), every licensee must comply with the codes of practice applicable to the licensee.
(10)  The LTA may, for such time as the LTA may specify, waive the application of any code of practice or part of a code of practice, issued or approved under this section to any particular licensee.
(11)  For the purposes of subsections (2)(e) and (3)(e), “relevant offence” means any of the following offences committed on or after the date of commencement of this section:
(a)an offence under the Road Traffic Act or any subsidiary legislation made under that Act;
(b)an offence under section 3 of the Motor Vehicles (Third‑Party Risks and Compensation) Act (Cap. 189);
(c)an offence under section 23 of the Public Transport Council Act;
(d)an offence under this Act or the Regulations.
Directions affecting licensees
31.—(1)  The LTA may give a direction to a licensee for or in respect of any matter affecting the interests of the public in connection with the point‑to‑point passenger transport service provided by the licensee, after considering the following matters with respect to all or any of the point‑to‑point passenger transport services provided in Singapore:
(a)the development of innovative and accessible point‑to‑point passenger transport services which contribute to the mobility and safety of people in Singapore;
(b)the arrangements between the licensees and the arrangements supporting the provision of point‑to‑point passenger transport services;
(c)the related driver agreements and participating driver agreements between authorised drivers and the respective licensees;
(d)the social impact of the direction;
(e)the impact of the direction on the use of other public passenger transport in Singapore;
(f)standards of quality, reliability and safety of those services (whether those standards are specified by legislation, licence conditions, agreement or otherwise);
(g)any other matter the LTA considers relevant having regard to the purposes of this Act.
(2)  A direction given under subsection (1) —
(a)may require the licensee concerned (according to the circumstances of the case) to do, or to refrain from doing, for a specified period, the things specified in the direction or the things that are of a description specified in the direction;
(b)takes effect at such time, being the earliest practicable time, as is determined by or under that direction; and
(c)may be revoked at any time by the LTA.
(3)  Without limiting subsection (2), a direction under subsection (1) so as to alleviate or minimise any risk of obstructing any measures taken to reduce the impact of any serious public passenger transport incident in Singapore or a part of Singapore, may require the licensee concerned to stop providing point‑to‑point passenger transport services specified in the direction to hirers in any part of Singapore, for a period not exceeding 24 hours, or any further periods not exceeding 24 hours each.
(4)  A direction under this section continues in force until the earlier of the following occurs:
(a)the expiry date (if any) stated in the direction is reached;
(b)the LTA revokes the direction.
(5)  Before exercising any power under subsection (1), the LTA must, unless the LTA in respect of any particular direction considers that it is not practicable or desirable, give written notice to the licensee concerned —
(a)stating that the LTA intends to give a direction to the licensee under this section and the nature of the direction; and
(b)specifying the time (being not less than 14 days after the date of service of the notice on the licensee) within which written representations may be made to the LTA with respect to the proposed direction.
(6)  The LTA may, after considering any written representation under subsection (5)(b), decide to give or not to give, or to modify, the direction as the LTA considers appropriate.
(7)  The LTA must serve on the licensee concerned a notice of its decision under subsection (6).
(8)  Every licensee must comply with every direction given under this section to the licensee as soon as it takes effect.
(9)  However, nothing in this section authorises the LTA to give any direction with regard to fares which are regulated by the PTC under the Public Transport Council Act.
(10)  In this section, “serious public passenger transport incident” includes any of the following:
(a)a stoppage or disruption of more than one regular route services (within the meaning of the Bus Services Industry Act 2015 (Act 30 of 2015)) in Singapore or any part of Singapore;
(b)a large‑scale disruption of services on one or more rapid transit systems within the meaning of the Rapid Transit Systems Act (Cap. 263A).