COE car categories to be reviewed after Category A and Category B prices converge
The review will begin immediately, with consultations to take place for the rest of the year, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow in parliament.
Vehicles in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Syamil Sapari)
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SINGAPORE: The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) categorisation of cars will be reviewed, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow on Wednesday (Mar 4).
Speaking in parliament to lay out the Transport Ministry's spending plans for the year, Mr Siow said that in light of Category A and Category B COE prices converging, he has asked the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to review the issue.
Mr Siow said that in recent years, manufacturers have been adjusting car specifications so that they fit into Category A, which had led to the convergence.
"We will gather views from the public and from the industry on how to improve the COE categorisation for cars," he said.
COE premiums rose across all categories in the latest bidding exercise on Wednesday.
For Category A cars, premiums closed at S$108,220 (US$84,738), up from S$106,501 in the last exercise.
Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B rose the most, from S$105,001 to S$114,002 – an increase of nearly 8.6 per cent.
Mr Siow noted that in the previous COE bidding exercise, Category B premiums had fallen below those of smaller Category A cars.
The last time Category B prices fell below those for smaller cars was in March 2020.
While Category B prices returned to "somewhat normal" and higher than category A in Wednesday's bidding exercise, it is likely that the two prices will continue to converge "for some time", Mr Siow said.
This is because Category A quota supply had peaked last year, while Category B quota supply has continued to increase this year, he said.
Asked by Ms Tin Pei Ling (PAP-Marine Parade-Braddell Heights) on the timeline of the review, Mr Siow said that it will begin immediately, with consultations to take place for the rest of the year.
"Hopefully by the end of the year, we ought to have some form of conclusion," he said.
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Open category COEs, which are used mainly for large cars, rose to S$114,890 on Wednesday, from S$112,890.
COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, rose to S$76,000 from S$74,999 in the previous bidding exercise.
Motorcycle premiums closed at S$8,602, up almost 7.7 per cent from S$7,989 in the last exercise.
A total of 4,668 bids were received, with a quota of 3,163 COEs available.
This is the second COE exercise to fall under the revised Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate scheme announced in the recent Budget.
Rebate rates will be reduced by 45 percentage points across the board, while the rebate cap will be halved from S$60,000 (US$47,000) to S$30,000.
PARF rebates are granted when a car is deregistered before the 10-year COE runs out.
