Some 35,000 oBikes have been removed, tracking of the remaining bicycles ‘challenging’: LTA
oBike had previously been given until the end of last month to remove all abandoned bicycles from public areas, an extension of an earlier deadline on July 4.
SINGAPORE — About 70 per cent, or some 35,000 out of an estimated fleet of 40,000 to 50,000 oBike bicycles, have been removed from public spaces following the bicycle sharing operator’s abrupt announcement that it was ending its operations here.
Replying to TODAY’s queries on Wednesday (Aug 1), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that oBike’s provisional liquidators have made “significant progress in the removal of oBike bicycles from public spaces”.
“LTA will continue to monitor the situation closely and step in to remove the remaining bicycles should the company’s provisional liquidators fail to do so in a prompt manner,” said the authority.
oBike had previously been given until the end of last month to remove all abandoned bicycles from public areas, an extension of an earlier deadline on July 4.
TODAY understands that no new deadline has been imposed on the liquidators to remove all bicycles.
According to the LTA, some of the bikes may be at undetected locations or locations that are difficult to access.
“Unlike most device-sharing operators that leverage GPS technology, oBike’s bicycles do not have an in-built GPS tracker. Instead, the bicycles feature a Bluetooth lock, which only allows the locations to be revealed when the bicycles are connected to a user’s mobile application via Bluetooth,” it said.
“This has made tracking of the remaining bicycles challenging.”
oBike — which claimed it had more than one million users here — announced in June that it was ending its services in Singapore.
This sparked a rush by users to recover the mandatory deposit — up to S$49 — that they had placed with the company.
LTA also said that the company’s liquidators have arranged for a creditors’ meeting on Thursday (Aug 2) to “update and address questions with regard to oBike’s winding up in Singapore”.
“(These include) the issue of user deposits, for which oBike founder Shi Yi had personally committed on July 1, 2018, to provide a full refund,” it said.
It added: “LTA and the relevant agencies and organisations, such as the Personal Data Protection Commission and the Consumers Association of Singapore, will continue working closely with the company’s provisional liquidators and oBike’s global office to ensure that oBike exits the market in a responsible manner.”
Members of public who wish to report locations of oBike bicycles can send an email to obikelocated [at] fticonsulting.com.
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