More accountability needed from transport-sharing operators and users

In light of oBike's sudden exit from Singapore, maybe it is time to look seriously into the accountability and liability issues of new enterprises should they fail, before letting them into the market.

With the unexpected announcement on Monday (June 25), there are now tens of thousands of bicycles strewn all over the island.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) just announced that it has instructed oBike to work with its liquidator to remove its bicycles from public spaces by July 4 this year, failing which LTA will progressively remove them and oBike or its liquidator will have to pay the relevant towing and storage fees in order to claim the impounded bicycles.

This will take time before the commercial junk is cleared up.

Then, there is the issue of the lack of statutory safeguards for the unsuspecting public who have paid deposits in good faith, what was meant to be a refundable sum of S$49 per adult and S$19 per student.

This amounts to a collective loss for the public.

Granted, some members of the public have also contributed to the problem with their indiscriminate parking and littering that now requires regulation.

Thinking laterally, issues of misuse of property, the lack of social responsibility, and abandonment are not unknown to our society, as they are the same issues that have arisen from the use of supermarket trollies by inconsiderate shoppers.

The docked shared-bicycle scheme works only if operators and users are forced to be more accountable.