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).