Ofo suspended by LTA, firm to remove all bicycles from public places by March 13

SINGAPORE — Beleaguered bike-sharing operator Ofo has been suspended by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for failing to comply with its regulatory requirements.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, the LTA said on Thursday (Feb 14) it had suspended Ofo’s operating licence and that the company will be required to remove all of its bicycles from public places by March 13.

The authority had earlier given Ofo up till Wednesday to reduce its bicycle fleet to the stipulated maximum fleet size of 10,000 and set up a QR-code parking system.

LTA said it “will only lift the suspension if Ofo meets all regulatory requirements”.

When asked if LTA would step in to manage Ofo’s assets if the firm does not remove its fleet of bicycles, the authority said that it would do so from March 14, “if necessary”.

“The primary responsibility for managing the bicycles lies with the respective operator. To manage taxpayer burden, LTA only steps in where necessary,” said its spokesperson.

LTA will continue to monitor Ofo’s efforts to comply with its regulatory requirements and may cancel the bike-sharing firm’s licence if it does not show satisfactory progress in meeting these requirements, said the authority.

These requirements include adjusting Ofo’s geofencing function, testing the app’s user interface for the system to ban users for indiscriminate parking and providing regular progress updates to the authority.

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Backed by conglomerate Alibaba Group, China-based firm Ofo has been battling cash flow problems, with close to 12 million customers in China reportedly demanding refunds of their deposits.

TODAY also reported last December that the bike-sharing firm owed at least two vendors here unpaid sums totalling more than S$700,000 for logistic services.

One vendor, SB Express, is seeking payment of at least S$40,000 for services provided in April to Winning Logistics — a global logistics firm hired directly by Ofo’s Beijing office which outsourced its Singapore operations to the former.

Mr Sebastian Lee, SB Express’ managing director, said on Thursday that Ofo has yet to pay off its debt.

The LTA had said in a statement last month that it viewed Ofo’s non-compliance to its requirements as “serious breaches of critical requirements” as the firm was given “ample preparation period”.

The authority had also issued a warning to the firm in November last year, warning that possible regulatory actions could be taken as the company’s fleet size was beyond the maximum number allowed.