SINGAPORE: Owners of motorcycles registered before Jul 1, 2003 will get up to S$3,500 if they choose to de-register their motorcycles over the next five years.
Some 27,000 motorcycles will meet the criteria for this incentive, which comes as the Government steps up efforts to meet air quality targets by 2020.
The incentive consists of two components: S$2,000 for eligible owners and an additional S$1,500 if they do not renew their motorcycles’ Certificate of Entitlements (COE).
This means that eligible owners who choose to renew their motorcycles’ COEs on or after Apr 7 before de-registering their motorcycles within the next five years will only get S$2,000.
Owners of motorcycles that are on five-year COEs, or the Classic, Vintage (Restricted) and Revised Vintage Vehicle Schemes as of Apr 6 are not eligible for this incentive.
Eligible owners will receive a letter from the National Environment Agency (NEA) by the end of this month informing them of the incentive.
AdvertisementAdvertisementNEA is targeting motorcycles as they contribute 53 per cent to local sources of carbon monoxide (CO), even though they make up 15 per cent of vehicles on the road.
In addition, older motorcycles registered before Jul 1, 2003 contribute 40 per cent of CO emissions from motorcycles.
Channel NewsAsia understands that NEA does not have plans to roll out this incentive for older cars as they only make up 1 per cent of the car population.
In contrast, motorcycles that are more than or equal to 15 years old make up 21 per cent of motorcycles on the road.
Channel NewsAsia also understands that the incentive was designed to run over the next five years to avoid causing an increase in COE premiums for motorcycles.
However, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli told reporters at a media session on Friday (Apr 6) that he expects the incentive to have an initial impact on COE prices, albeit not a long-term one.
This incentive is the latest in a slew of measures aimed at reducing vehicular emissions, which NEA said is a “key source” of air pollution here.
Mr Masagos said in Parliament last month that the Government would be reviewing how to reduce vehicular pollution from older, more polluting vehicles.
The minister also said last year that new emission standards for petrol vehicles and motorcycles on the roads would kick in from Apr 1 this year.
The new standards, which are comparable to those in Europe and Japan, would reduce emissions due to “vehicle defects or poor maintenance”, he added.
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