LTA imposes 3-year lock-in period for business-owned chauffeured private hire cars

This aims to achieve a more stable supply of vehicles that can be used to provide ride-hailing services.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will introduce a mandatory three-year lock-in period for all newly registered or converted chauffeured private hire cars (cPHCs) owned by businesses and all cPHCs transferred from individuals to businesses.

This measure ensures that businesses that acquire cPHCs primarily lease them to drivers providing ride-hailing services. It also prevents the premature conversion of such PHCs out of the cPHC scheme, which will affect the supply of vehicles available for P2P services.

Business-owned cPHCs with an existing lock-in period can still be transferred to another business, and the remaining lock-in duration will be carried over to the new business.

However, business-owned cPHCs with an existing lock-in period cannot be transferred to an individual.

The lock-in period will not apply to existing business-owned cPHCs that were registered, converted, or transferred before 19 February and cPHCs owned by individuals, who typically use them both for providing ride-hail services and for personal trips.