Interpretation
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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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;
“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]