Stiffer fines for Singapore parking offences from July 1: URA

[SINGAPORE] Motorists who flout the law will face stiffer fines for parking offences from July 1, following a review by the Housing Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

In a joint statement on Monday, HDB and URA said fines will be increased for these categories of offences: Illegal parking offences, coupon and digital parking offences and payment evasion at Electronic Parking System (EPS) carparks.

Motorcyclists who do not abide by parking regulations and park their vehicles indiscriminately will soon face a S$35 fine, a S$10 increase from before.

Meanwhile, errant car drivers and heavy vehicle drivers who park illegally will have their fines raised by S$20.

This means car drivers will have to pay S$70 from July 1, while heavy vehicle drivers will have to pay S$100.

The agencies said that from 2016 to 2018, an average of 260,800 notices were issued each year for illegal parking.

These include cases where the motorists parked their cars in motorcycle or heavy vehicle parking lots, as well as non-season ticket holders who parked their vehicles at season parking lots.

HDB and URA said that vehicles that park indiscriminately may endanger the safety of others, on top of causing obstruction and inconvenience to other users.

Motorists who do not pay the correct parking charges will also be punished more severely, the statement said.

Currently, drivers of cars and heavy vehicles found parking without a valid parking coupon or without activating a digital parking session face a fine of S$30 and S$40 respectively. Motorcyclists face a fine of S$8.

The fines will be increased to S$40 and S$50 respectively for cars and heavy vehicles from July 1, while there will be no change in the fine quantum for motorcycles.

In addition, errant motorists will now face higher fines, ranging from S$8 to S$24 for cars, and S$16 to S$48 for heavy vehicles, for exceeding their paid parking sessions.

The fine quantum for motorcycles will remain at S$4.

The current fines for vehicles that have exceeded their paid parking sessions range from S$6 to S$20 for cars, and S$12 to S$40 for heavy vehicles.

Motorists who use carparks without the EPS should use parking coupons, the Parking.sg app or the OneService App to pay their parking charges, the agencies said.

From 2016 to 2018, an average of 573,000 notices were issued each year to motorists who either did not pay the parking charges or had paid an insufficient amount at coupon parking carparks.

Lastly, those who evade parking charges by tailgating others or bypassing carpark gantries will have their fines increased too.

HDB and URA said they issued about 4,400 notices every year to this group of errant motorists.

From July 1, motorcyclists will face a S$35 fine, up from the current S$25.

The fines for car drivers and heavy vehicle drivers will be raised to S$70 and S$100 respectively.

Currently, car drivers pay S$50 and heavy vehicle drivers, S$80.

HDB and URA last carried out a revision of parking fines in 1991.

In the statement, the agencies urged motorists to be considerate and abide by the parking rules.

The public can call 1800-338-6622 to report any parking offences.

THE STRAITS TIMES