False vehicle documents and driving licences
Road Traffic Act section 129 covers false or misleading vehicle-registration statements, forged or altered vehicle documents and plates, misuse of driving licences, and seizure of suspected documents.
Primary source: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/RTA1961?ProvIds=pr129-
False statements and records
Section 129(1) makes it an offence to make or cause a false or materially misleading statement or declaration in specified applications under the Act or its rules, including applications about vehicle registration or the grant, variation or conditions of an approval, permit or licence. It also covers knowingly furnishing false or materially misleading particulars about a vehicle-registration change, and knowingly making a false or materially misleading entry in a record, register or other document required under the Act or its rules. The stated maximum is a $5,000 fine, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 129(1)).
Forged, altered or misused documents
Section 129(2) covers forging, altering, defacing, mutilating, using, lending or allowing another person to use a vehicle or trailer mark, plate or document required under the Act, or a licence issued under it. It also covers making or possessing a close imitation calculated to deceive, altering an entry in a required record, displaying a forged or altered required document or a colourable imitation on a vehicle or trailer, transferring or affixing to a vehicle a licence or mark issued for another vehicle, and using a forged, altered, defaced or mutilated driving licence or one with an unauthorised addition. The person is guilty unless they establish to the court’s satisfaction that they acted without intent to deceive (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 129(2)).
For an offence involving alteration of a supplementary licence issued under section 11A, a first conviction under subsection (2)(a) or (d) carries a maximum $10,000 fine. A second or subsequent conviction for that specified offence carries a maximum $20,000 fine, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both. Other subsection 129(2) offences carry a maximum $5,000 fine, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 129(2)(g)–(i)).
Seizure and court proceedings
A police officer, the Registrar or an officer authorised by the Registrar in writing may seize a document if there is reasonable cause to believe it is connected with an offence under section 129. If the document remains detained and neither the driver nor owner has previously been charged under the section, the driver or owner must be summoned before a District Court or Magistrate’s Court to account for possession of the document or its presence on the vehicle. The court may order how the document is disposed of and award costs as justice requires. For these provisions, “document” includes a plate, and seizure includes detaching it from the vehicle (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 129(5)–(8)).