SINGAPORE — Taxi operators will try to minimise the downtime for installing on-board units (OBU) for the new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system, and will compensate their drivers for the time spent on installation, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor on Wednesday (Feb 7).

She was responding to a parliamentary question posed by MP Yeo Wan Ling (PAP-Pasir Ris-Punggol) about the rollout of the ERP 2.0 system for point-to-point drivers such as taxis and private-hire vehicles.

Ms Yeo is an advisor to the National Taxi Association and National Private Hire Vehicles Association. 

"The taxi operators have agreed to compensate the taxi drivers for the downtime incurred, in the form of rental rebate to offset the downtime," said Dr Khor.

The installation of OBUs is part of the transition to ERP 2.0, which is satellite-based and has the capability to support distance-based charging — though the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has said there are no immediate plans to do so.

By default, each OBU has a processing unit, an antenna and a touchscreen display, though motorists can opt out of the touchscreen display. 

Installation began on Nov 1 last year, starting with company vehicles such as buses, goods vehicles and taxis.

To minimise the time spent on the installation, some taxi operators plan to schedule OBU installation at the same time as vehicle maintenance so that drivers do not need to drop their taxis off at the workshop on two different occasions. 

Other operators are planning to recall taxis for OBU installation when workshops have more time so that the waiting time will be reduced.

Dr Khor said ERP 2.0 units will be installed on private-hire vehicles at a later date.

"LTA will engage the relevant stakeholders closer to the scheduled period," she said.

Other vehicles will be progressively fitted with the OBU from the first quarter of this year, beginning with new vehicles. For existing vehicles, the installation will be scheduled in batches based on the age of the vehicles.

Motorists will be given a two-month period to install the OBU for free.

The exercise is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, LTA said previously. Installation was delayed due to a global microchip shortage during the Covid-19 pandemic. CNA