Obbana Rajah
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has now implemented the need for bike-sharing companies to apply for a license to operate in a public space.
The license that companies such as oBike and Mobike have to apply for will allow them to operate for two years.
According to LTA’s statement, “Existing operators that fail to submit an application will be required to cease operations immediately when the application window closes on 7 July 2018. Unlicensed operation of shared devices will be considered an offence and unlicensed operators can be fined of up to $10,000 and/or face a jail term of up to six months; and a continuing fine of $500 per day that the offence continues”.
The move is in line with the Parking Places Amendment that was passed in March, where LTA plans to impose a QR code-based geo-fencing solution, where users will have to scan a QR code at specific parking places before they can leave the shared bicycle.
This is to solve the issue of people leaving shared bikes strewn across pavements and grass patches without finding a proper parking space.
LTA has also decided that “operators will have to take measures to ensure that their users practise responsible parking. This includes requiring their users to scan the unique QR code at the parking location as proof of proper parking before they can end their trip, and continuously charging users who park indiscriminately, until they return the shared bicycle to a designated parking space”.
obbana@theindependent.sg