PART 1 | 1. This Act is the Public Transport Council Act 1987. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“bookable vehicle” means any of the following vehicles used or intended to be used in providing an on‑demand passenger transport service through a booking taken or facilitated by a provider of a ride‑hail service:| (a) | a taxi; | | (b) | a private hire car (within the meaning given by the Road Traffic Act 1961) which is hired, or made available for hire, under a contract (express or implied) for use as a whole with a driver for the purpose of conveying one or more passengers (if any) in that car; |
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| “booking”, in relation to a ride‑hail service, means a booking for a bookable vehicle to be used in providing an on‑demand passenger transport service taken or facilitated by the provider of the ride‑hail service; |
| “bus” means any motor vehicle registered as a bus under the Road Traffic Act 1961; |
| “bus fare” means the price payable by a passenger for any bus service involving the carriage of the passenger on a bus; |
“bus operator”, in relation to a bus service, means the person who operates the bus service but does not include —| (a) | the Land Transport Authority of Singapore; or | | (b) | a person who merely arranges for the registration of a bus, drives a bus, or maintains or arranges for the maintenance of a bus; |
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| “bus service” means a service for the carriage of passengers for a fare by buses on roads for journeys wholly or partly within Singapore according to predetermined routes and timetables with 2 or more bus stopping points within Singapore, but does not include a bus service excluded from this definition by the Minister by order in the Gazette; |
| “bus service licence” means a licence granted (or deemed granted) under the Bus Services Industry Act 2015 to operate one or more bus services; |
| “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Council and includes any temporary Chairperson of the Council; |
| “Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive of the Council, and includes any individual acting in that capacity; |
“clearing”, in relation to a ticket payment service, means any arrangement, process, mechanism or facility provided by a person in respect of ticket transactions, by which —| (a) | information relating to the terms of those transactions are verified by such person with a view to confirming the authenticity of those transactions; or | | (b) | the amount payable to the parties under those transactions is calculated and verified; |
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| “Council” means the Public Transport Council established under section 3; |
“fare” means —| (a) | any bus fare; | | (b) | any train fare; | | (c) | any ride-hail fare; or | | (d) | any street-hail fare; |
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“invalid ticket” means a ticket that is for a journey on a bus or train operated by a public bus operator or licensed rapid transit system operator for which a ticket is required and —| (a) | that is used, or attempted to be used —| (i) | for a journey that is not the journey for which the ticket was issued; | | (ii) | to over-travel the fare that was paid for the journey, without reasonable excuse; or | | (iii) | by a person who is not the first user of a ticket which is non-transferable; |
| | (b) | that has been altered or defaced; | | (c) | that is counterfeit; or | | (d) | that is expired; |
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| “Land Transport Authority of Singapore” or “LTA” means the public authority of that name constituted under the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act 1995; |
“licensed” means —| (a) | licensed under the Bus Services Industry Act 2015 in the case of a bus operator; | | (b) | licensed under the Rapid Transit Systems Act 1995 in the case of an operator of a rapid transit system; | | (c) | licensed under the Road Traffic Act 1961 in the case of a taxi driver; or | | (d) | licensed under the Point-to-Point Passenger Transport Industry Act 2019 in the case of a provider of a ride‑hail service provided using bookable vehicles, or a street‑hail service; |
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| “licensee” means a person to whom any licence has been granted under this Act; |
| “limited liability partnership” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; |
“manager” —| (a) | in relation to a company, means the principal executive officer of the company for the time being by whatever name called and whether or not he or she is a director of the company; and | | (b) | in relation to a limited liability partnership, has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; |
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| “on-demand passenger transport service” and “on-demand ride booking service” have the meanings given by the Point‑to‑Point Passenger Transport Industry Act 2019; |
| “over-travel”, in relation to a fare, means to remain on a bus or train after the place, distance or time covered by the fare paid for the journey has been reached and includes, for a smartcard ticket, tapping out before the completion of the journey or part of the journey; |
“paid area” means —| (a) | any platform of a railway station that is part of a rapid transit system; and | | (b) | any area between such a platform and any ticket barrier access or ticket validating machine past which access is gained to the platform; |
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“passenger” means an individual carried upon a bus, train, taxi or bookable vehicle (as the case may be) but does not include —| (a) | an owner, a driver or fare collector of a bus, train, taxi or bookable vehicle while carrying out work or on duty in that capacity; or | | (b) | a public transport official while carrying out work or on duty in that capacity; |
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| “penalty fee” means the penalty fee referred to in section 53; |
“price”, in relation to any fare, includes —| (a) | the amount of any rate, fee, levy and charge and any other valuable consideration (however described) for a journey by bus, train, taxi or bookable vehicle (as the case may be), whether or not it is paid or given to an operator of a bus service or train service, a provider of a street‑hail service or ride‑hail service or a driver of a bus, train, taxi or bookable vehicle; | | (b) | the provision of, or arrangements for, a discount, concession, allowance, rebate or credit applying in relation to any amount in paragraph (a); and | | (c) | in the case of a ride-hail fare, includes the amount of a booking fee, |
| but does not include a consideration of a kind prescribed by the Minister by order in the Gazette for the purposes of this definition; |
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| “pricing policy” means the policy for setting any fare, including a policy relating to the level or structure of prices for any fare; |
| “public authority” means a body established or constituted by or under a public Act to perform or discharge a public function; |
| “public bus operator” means a licensed bus operator who is party to a public bus services contract for the provision of bus services specified in that contract, and includes a licensed bus operator holding a Class 1 bus service licence but is not party to such a contract; |
| “public bus services contract” has the meaning given by the Bus Services Industry Act 2015; |
| “public service vehicle” has the meaning given by the Road Traffic Act 1961; |
| “Public Transport Fund” means the fund of that name established under Part 4; |
| “public transport official” means an individual appointed by the Council as a public transport official under section 51; |
| “rapid transit system” has the meaning given by the Rapid Transit Systems Act 1995; |
“ride-hail common pricing scheme” means a contract made between the prescribed ride‑hail industry participants providing a ride‑hail service that provides —| (a) | for a common price or price structure for a fare component in relation to that ride‑hail service; and | | (b) | for periodic reviews of that common price or price structure, |
| and includes any variation of that contract; |
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| “ride-hail fare” means the price paid or given for the use of a ride‑hail service, whether or not it is paid or given to the provider of the ride‑hail service, a driver or any other person, and includes a booking fee; |
“ride-hail industry participant”, for a type of ride‑hail service, means any of the following:| (a) | a ride-hail service licensee authorised to provide that type of ride‑hail service; | | (b) | any person or class of persons prescribed for the purposes of this definition either generally, or with respect to that particular type of ride‑hail service; |
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“ride-hail service” means —| (a) | an on-demand passenger transport service of any type provided using bookable vehicles; or | | (b) | an on-demand ride booking service of any type provided using bookable vehicles; |
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| “ride-hail service licensee” means a person to whom a ride-hail service licence to provide a ride-hail service is granted (on renewal or otherwise) or deemed granted under the Point‑to‑Point Passenger Transport Industry Act 2019; |
| “smartcard reader” means a device or combination of devices that is capable of electronically reading, recording and processing information from a ticket that is a smartcard, and copying or transferring information from the smartcard and storing and displaying the information in legible form; |
“street-hail common pricing scheme” means a contract made between the prescribed street‑hail industry participants providing a street‑hail service that provides —| (a) | for a common price or price structure for a fare component in relation to that street‑hail service; and | | (b) | for periodic reviews of that common price or price structure, |
| and includes any variation of that contract; |
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| “street-hail fare” means the price paid or given for the use of a street‑hail service, whether or not it is paid or given to the provider of the street‑hail service, a driver or any other person, but does not include any booking fee for a taxi made available, or to be made available, in providing on‑demand passenger transport services; |
“street-hail industry participant” means any of the following:| (a) | a street-hail service licensee; | | (b) | a taxi driver licensed under the Road Traffic Act 1961 to drive a taxi not owned by a street‑hail service licensee; | | (c) | any person or class of persons prescribed for the purposes of this definition either generally, or with respect to a class of street‑hail service; |
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“street-hail service” means a service involving the transport by road of passengers within, or partly within, Singapore for hire or reward —| (a) | provided using motor vehicles which are taxis; and | | (b) | under which any individual can hail or hire on‑demand such a motor vehicle when it is —| (i) | standing or plying for hire on a road; and | | (ii) | authorised under the Point‑to‑Point Passenger Transport Industry Act 2019 or the Road Traffic Act 1961 to stand or ply for hire on a road; |
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| “street-hail service licensee” means a person to whom a street‑hail service licence to provide a street‑hail service is granted (on renewal or otherwise) or deemed granted under the Point‑to‑Point Passenger Transport Industry Act 2019; |
| “tap in”, where payment of a fare is made using a smartcard, means to present a smartcard ticket to a smartcard reader on starting a journey, or part of a journey, resulting in a response from the smartcard reader that the transaction is successful; |
| “tapping out”, where payment of a fare is made using a smartcard, means to present a smartcard ticket to a smartcard reader on completing a journey, or part of a journey, resulting in a response from the smartcard reader that the transaction is successful; |
| “taxi” means any public service vehicle which is classified as a taxi under the Second Schedule to the Road Traffic Act 1961; |
| “ticket” means any form of authorisation, issued for the conveyance of any passenger on a rapid transit system or on any bus operated by a public bus operator, or both; |
“ticket payment service” means —| (a) | a service for —| (i) | the clearing of any ticket transaction; or | | (ii) | the sale, topping-up, replacement or refund, or the management of the use, of a mode of payment for tickets; or |
| | (b) | any other services that the Council may, by order in the Gazette, prescribe; |
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| “ticket payment service licence” means a licence granted under Part 5; |
| “ticket transaction” means any record of a fare deduction created by the use of a mode of payment for tickets; |
| “train” means a train used as part of a rapid transit system the operation of which is licensed under the Rapid Transit Systems Act 1995; |
| “train fare” means the price payable by a passenger for any service involving the carriage of the passenger on a train operated by a licensed rapid transit system operator; |
| “train service” means the service for the transport of passengers by one or more trains on a rapid transit system within Singapore for a fare. [30/2015; 31/2015; 5/2018; 20/2019] |
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