Paid Carpooling Will be Allowed Tomorrow (19 June) But Those in Telegram Cannot Resume

Been Grab-bing to work and finding it too expensive for your wallet?

Wish that carpooling is available so that you can save on some moolah while keeping safe?

Well, wish granted, says Mr Janil Puthucheary.

Paid Carpooling Will be Allowed Tomorrow (19 June)

On 17 June, Mr Janil Puthucheary took to his Facebook page to upload a piece of much-welcomed news.

Paid carpooling is allowed to resume in Phase 2.

He said that from 19 Jun onwards, you can give your relatives, friends and colleagues a ride to work.

And it’s not just normal carpooling.

“Privately-arranged Private-Hire Car services, limousine services and paid car-pool services made through booking platforms” can resume their operations too.

In essence, he’s talking about services like GrabShare, GrabHitch and Ryde.

But how about private carpooling?

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“Informal” Carpooling Not Allowed

He added that paid carpool services through “informal platforms” like chat groups cannot resume.

Meaning carpooling on Telegram is still illegal.

The reason, he says, is because when you make a booking through a platform, records are kept for contact tracing purposes.

However, for informal platforms, there is no way to record the trip and passenger details.

He added that public health is still a priority and reopening must happen “in phases”.

Don’t Test The System

I know what you’re thinking, what if I just try my luck and go ahead?

Well, you shouldn’t because for one, we don’t want to go back to the dark ages (read: Circuit Breaker).

And two, the punishment for illegal carpooling can be quite drastic.

On 28 May, a 53-year-old man, Ng Chiang Huat, became the first to be charged in Singapore for illegally providing carpooling services during the Circuit Breaker.

He and another driver was caught by the LTA and had their cars confiscated in Apr 2020.

Ng was charged for leaving his house without a valid reason, driving without the required insurance policy and without a valid public service vehicle licence.

He could be jailed for six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both, for breaching Covid-19 rules.

Ng also faced fines and jail terms for his other offences and could be banned from driving for up to a year (possible due to the insurance issue).

LTA is also urging for all people who come across carpooling ads online to report them on OneMotoring.com.

In short, don’t test the system.

It’s just not worth it.

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