Knowledge base Vehicle ownership Updated 19 Oct 2026 8 min read

Chauffeured private hire cars in Singapore

How a car enters or leaves the chauffeured private hire car scheme, required decals and inspections, who may drive it for reward, passenger pickup rules and the business-owned lock-in.

private-hire-car PHC PDVL TDVL vehicle-scheme LTA

Primary source: https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/dam/ltagov/industry_innovations/pdf/Enhanced_FAQs_for_PHC.pdf

Converting a car into a chauffeured PHC

A car entering the chauffeured Private Hire Car (PHC) scheme must pass an inward conversion inspection before the owner completes the online scheme conversion. LTA says a private car that passed periodic inspection within the preceding 3 months does not need a second inspection for conversion. After a successful inspection, the owner completes the conversion through OneMotoring and pays the $100 administrative fee (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q9, Q12 and Q22).

For the conversion inspection, the motorist must bring the PHC inward-conversion advisory from the OneMotoring dashboard’s e-Letter inbox (or the hardcopy advisory if they opted to receive one). At payment, the motorist must tell the inspection-centre counter that the vehicle is being presented for a PHC conversion inspection, or it may be rejected. No appointment is required; LTA advises checking centre opening hours and avoiding 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, Monday to Saturday (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q17–18).

Within 3 calendar days after the online conversion, the owner must have a pair of tamper-evident decals affixed to the front and rear windscreens at an LTA-Authorised Inspection Centre. The decals are tied to the vehicle and cannot be transferred. LTA’s conversion guidance also requires adequate motor insurance before the vehicle provides paid point-to-point (P2P) passenger services (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q21–22, Q33–34).

Decals and inspections

Every vehicle registered as a chauffeured PHC must display its decals at all times, even when it is being used for personal trips. The decals cannot be removed or tampered with while the vehicle remains in the scheme. If damaged, they must be replaced at an authorised inspection centre within 3 calendar days. LTA identifies tampering, removal while still in the scheme, and providing or accepting chauffeured services with missing or tampered decals as offences. The stated additional periodic-inspection fee for checking PHC decals is $13.08 inclusive of GST (LTA, Private Hire Car Licence).

PHCs undergo annual periodic inspections. A newly converted PHC’s next periodic inspection is scheduled between 9 and 15 months after conversion; LTA says it will notify the owner about 3 months before the inspection is due. The inspection checks the same items as a private-car periodic inspection plus the decals. Failed items must be repaired and the car must pass re-inspection before road tax can be renewed (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q1, Q3, Q7 and Q23).

Who may drive it and how passengers use it

A valid Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL) or Taxi Driver’s Vocational Licence (TDVL) is required to use a chauffeured PHC to provide P2P passenger transport for reward. A chauffeured PHC may also be driven for personal or social purposes by someone with a valid driving licence; that use does not require a PDVL or TDVL (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q37–38).

Passengers cannot hail a PHC on the street or board or alight at taxi stands. PHC trips must be booked through a licensed ride-hailing operator or an operator exempt from licensing; LTA’s commuter guidance says fares should be shown before the trip and directs passengers to use pick-up points or driveways (LTA, Getting a Ride).

Converting out and business ownership

To leave the chauffeured PHC scheme, the owner completes an online vehicle-scheme conversion and pays a $100 administrative fee. LTA says the decals must then be removed and disposed of, and that it is an offence for a non-PHC to display PHC decals (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q24–25). Separately, current Road Traffic Rules r. 34 prohibits a person from affixing or causing to be affixed, or displaying or causing to be displayed, on any vehicle that is not a chauffeured PHC, a decal or other label bearing the PHC marking set out in the Fifth Schedule to the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Rules. The statutory wording applies to any non-PHC vehicle, not only a car that has just left the scheme (Singapore Statutes Online, current Road Traffic Rules, r. 34). If the owner cancels a vocational licence but keeps the car in the PHC scheme, the vehicle remains subject to annual PHC inspections (LTA, Frequently Asked Questions for Private Hire Car Matters, Q28–29).

Since 19 February 2025, a newly registered or converted business-owned chauffeured PHC, and a PHC transferred from an individual to a business, must remain in the scheme for at least 3 years. The period starts on the relevant registration, conversion or transfer date. During an existing lock-in, a business may transfer the car to another business with the remaining period carried over, but it cannot transfer the car to an individual. LTA says the lock-in does not apply to individually owned PHCs or to business-owned PHCs registered, converted or transferred before 19 February 2025 (LTA, Three-Year Lock-In Period for Business-Owned Chauffeured Private Hire Cars).

Construction and Use Rules r. 126A separately says that a motor vehicle which is not a taxi must not have a “relevant sign” installed, or display one on or within it, without the Registrar’s prior written permission. The definition includes signs with “taxi”, “cab”, “for hire” or “public hire car”, equivalent words in any language, and words or pictures that reasonably suggest the vehicle is available to take a passenger who wishes to hire it on a road or from a parking place or public stand (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use) Rules, r. 126A). The Public Service Vehicles Rules define chauffeured PHCs and taxis separately and provide distinct licence classes (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Rules, r. 2).

Coverage debt

LTA’s FAQs and notices may change. This overview does not reproduce every conversion-inspection item, operator-specific onboarding requirement, vocational-licence condition or point-to-point operator rule. Check the current LTA guidance and the operator’s terms before registering or using a PHC.

The cited rules do not expressly explain whether the prescribed PHC decals also require separate permission under r. 126A. Do not infer that the PHC marking rule resolves that interaction; the scope of r. 126A as applied to those decals remains to be confirmed with the Registrar.