Singapore says nearly RM100m in outstanding fines chalked up by foreign motorists

SINGAPORE, Feb 2, 2019, TODAY. Motorists of foreign vehicles have chalked up S$32 million (RM97 million) in unpaid fines, five government agencies said yesterday as they announced that foreign vehicles with “a number” of outstanding fines may be denied entry into Singapore from April 1, reported the MalayMail.

The outstanding fines were from about 400,000 traffic, parking and vehicular emission offences, the authorities said.

“This move aims to strengthen enforcement of such offences,” said the Housing and Development Board, Land Transport Authority, National Environment Agency, Singapore Police Force and Urban Redevelopment Authority in a joint statement.

“Foreign motorists who enter Singapore must abide by Singapore’s laws and settle any outstanding fines for offences.”

They declined to specify the quantum of outstanding fines that could cause a vehicle to be denied entry, citing operational reasons.

About 60,000 foreign vehicles enter Singapore daily and the majority of foreign motorists are law-abiding, they said.

Flyers are given out and billboards are displayed at land checkpoints to remind foreign motorists to settle any outstanding fines for offences.

The Traffic Police and other government agencies have also been conducting operations at the land checkpoints to detect such vehicles, to get the motorists to settle their outstanding fines.

To avoid being denied entry into Singapore, foreign motorists are strongly advised by the agencies to check if they have any outstanding fines for vehicle-related offences at www.axs.com.sg and to settle them promptly.

Payment for these fines can be made through the following channels:

AXS kiosks, AXS website and AXS mobile app
The respective agencies’ websites and customer service counters
SingPost Post Offices (not applicable to fines by the Traffic Police)

Some Singaporean motorists have also dragged their feet on paying fines across the Causeway. In December last year, a Malaysian senator proposed barring Singapore vehicles from leaving the country if the driver had outstanding fines.

The Malay Mail reported that from 2000 to 2017, Singaporean motorists have accumulated more than 180,000 unpaid summonses.