Drivers have more incentive to go green in 2014

Sumita d/o Sreedharan Today Online 22 Feb 14;

SINGAPORE — Vehicle owners will be given further incentives to go green, after Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced tweaks to two schemes rolled out last year.

The Early Turnover Scheme, an incentive scheme aimed at encouraging fleet owners to replace old, smoky diesel vehicles with “cleaner” models, will see an enhancement to the bonus Certificate of Entitlement (COE) period, to further incentivise owners to replace their vehicles early.

Under the scheme, vehicle owners can transfer the unused period of COE from their existing vehicle to the replacement one. They will get a bonus COE period for their replacement vehicle. This is derived from a proportion of what is left of their existing vehicle’s 20-year lifespan when it is de-registered.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan will announce the details in next month’s Committee of Supply debate.

The Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS), which offers rebates or taxes to owners based on vehicle emissions, will be extended for six months until June 2015, with a view towards continuing the scheme thereafter. Mr Tharman said he was “encouraged” by the results of this scheme.

More than 50 per cent of the new cars registered last year received rebates, an improvement from 2012, where only about 40 per cent would have been eligible for rebates, he said.

“As the CEVS was introduced last year amidst other changes to the COE system and the introduction of tiered ARF (Additional Registration Fee), we should observe the full impact of CEVS before making refinements. Hence, I will extend CEVS by six months until June 2015, with a view towards continuing the scheme thereafter,” Mr Tharman said.

Sumita Sreedharan