SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has caught another 16 drivers providing illegal cross-border ride-hailing services at Singapore’s land checkpoints and downtown area, with all vehicles impounded following tip-offs from the National Private Hire Vehicles Association and the National Taxi Association.
Drivers caught offering such services face fines of up to S$3,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, along with possible vehicle forfeiture.
LTA reminded the public to use only licensed channels for cross-border travel, either through Grab’s licensed cross-border ride-hailing service or Singapore-registered cross-border taxis, which are permitted to pick up passengers anywhere in Singapore for drop-off to destinations including Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Forest City, Kulai, and Senai.
Netizens call for demand-side enforcement
The announcement drew a familiar and pointed response from netizens, many of whom argued that targeting drivers alone is insufficient as long as passengers face no consequences.
“LTA should fine the passenger equally as the driver. Kill the demand and supply automatically disappeared,” one commenter wrote, which was echoed by another: “Authorities should fine the passenger too. They are the main culprits. Zero demand, zero supply.”
Others suggested that technology could be doing more of the heavy lifting. “Just let the system flag those vehicles that have multiple passengers with certain travel habits. This way you will catch more,” one user proposed.
Some called for a more dedicated enforcement presence. “LTA should set up a team just to catch them every day. Please look into it,” another commenter said.
One response took a more measured, analytical angle, calling for better data to ground the conversation. “LTA and NPHVA should consider publishing more substantiated data so that the discussion can move beyond assumptions and anecdotal claims. With today’s availability of digital records, platform data, enforcement statistics and AI-assisted analytics, it should not be difficult to identify clearer trends and correlations,” one Facebook user wrote.
A recurring debate
As cross-border traffic between Singapore and Johor continues to grow, particularly with the Johor state election having recently concluded and the JS-SEZ drawing more regular commuters, the pressure on both licensed and unlicensed cross-border transport services is unlikely to ease.
The demand-side argument raised by commenters reflects a recurring theme in Singapore’s enforcement of illegal transport services. Current penalties fall entirely on drivers and operators, leaving passengers, who help create the market for cheaper, unlicensed rides, without any legal exposure. Whether extending liability to passengers would meaningfully reduce demand, or simply drive the activity further underground, remains an open question that enforcement data alone may not be able to answer.
For now, to help LTA with their enforcement, the public is encouraged to report any illegal ride-hailing activities here: https://go.gov.sg/report-illegal-rides
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