You know, usually I’m all for government agencies helping Singaporeans with their problems. I usually like it when agencies like the LTA (Land Transport Authority) change their policies to help Singaporeans.
However for the LTA latest ruling on off-peak cars (OPC), “usually” is the operative word. In the past, ruling for OPC was very simple. You cannot drive your vehicles on Monday to Friday between 7am to 7pm. On Saturday, you can drive after 3pm. On Sunday and public holidays, you can drive for the whole day. Thus the term off-peak car; you can only drive the car during the off-peak hours. If owner want to drive their OPC during the restricted hours, they will need to pay a $20 license before the day of use. If you fail to do so, you get a fine.
The OPC scheme was introduced as a way for people who wants a car (but don’t really need it) to own a car. In return for the restricted hours, owners get rebate of $17,000 as well as a discount on their yearly road tax. It used to be so simple!
However recently LTA has changed policies on the OPC and it has brought confusion to everyone. LTA changed the $20 license so that owners can now buy the license 1 day after the day of use. That’s bad enough but now LTA has changed policies again so that owners can buy their license 3 days after the day of use.
LTA says they changed the policy after receiving numerous complains from owners of OPC. I say; the LTA are wimps!
Come on, the OPC owners already has a $17,000 as well as a discount on their road tax. Not only that, they usually get to pay lower cost on their insurance and car loan as well. All those advantages are more than enough and all you are asking these owners to do is to pay for $20 license if they intend to use their OPC during the restricted hours.
It seem more than reasonable to me; hell, I think OPC owners have a great deal. Are they happy? No, they complain and whine till they are given 1 extra day to pay for their license. Now, they complain and whine till they are given 3 more days to pay for their license. And the LTA is currently run by wimps who gave in to their unreasonable demands. What’s next? 5days? A week? A month?
Don’t’ be surprise because I believe these owners will now ask for even more days to pay for the license and why not? If the LTA is willing to change the period to 3 days, why not change it again to 5 days or a week? The LTA is just making things difficult for themselves and confusing the hell out of everybody.
I say this to the LTA; Figure out what policy you really want and stick to it!
6 comments:
dun hate the player... hate the game... if your fellow sgporeans can get away with something, dun whine just becoz u are not getting any benefits. u didnt even lose an ounce of flesh. get a grip. if u cant beat them, join them!
I have two points to make:
1. Insurance companies do not differentiate between off-peak-cars and normal cars. Hence OPC owners are paying the same high premium as others. Maybe TKL can look into it?
2. About LTA, when it relaxes the rule of use, owners have to pay administrative fee to convert, (can't remember whether is $100 or $200). There are about 45,000 OPCs. Calculate for yourself the addtional revenue LTA nets on a simple administrative adjustment.
To Anon Sep 6;
Actually I don’t have a car so this OPC does not affect me at all but what I’m against is this constant rule change by LTA. It cause confusion and is totally unnecessary.
To Anon Sep 7;
Most insurance companies do differentiate between OPC and normal cars. OPC owners pay slightly lower rates as the hours of use are lower than normal car owners. As for the fee you are talking about, it is $100 but it is only if owners convert their vehicles from normal to OPC. You can’t really complain about LTA when it’s the owner’s choice whether to downgrade to OPC.
thanks for clarifying ur stand.
well, lta will say they are listening and reacting to feedback from opc motorists.. u cant really fault them for that can you? anyway the whole coe/omv/erp etc system is already complicated enough which are hallmarks of lta so at end of the day you just need to understand the system and rules...
be it transport, housing or the immigration/tax game, the bottomline is that sg is already riding the hungry tiger. some ppl are going get hurt if we try to get off/when the bubble bursts. and that's the truth. we just have to be on top of our game, know the latest rules and play the cards dealt to us the best of our abilities to survive in our own country. sad... but thats the way it is... good luck.
rgds,
Anon Sep 6
Like you said, the system is already complicated enough so I have to wonder why LTA want to add on the confusion by adding on rules that make no sense. That is what I’m against.
I believe one and all must glance at it.
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