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Loan curbs extended to individuals buying private-hire cars from Oct 30

Singapore extends car loan curbs to individuals buying private-hire cars from Oct 30 to close a financing loophole. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The Straits TimesLee Nian Tjoe2026-10-29 20:00查看原文 ↗

The move stops individuals from registering private-hire cars to circumvent loan restrictions.

ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Published Oct 29, 2026, 08:00 PM

Updated Oct 29, 2026, 08:01 PM

SINGAPORE - Car loan curbs will be extended to individuals who buy cars for private-hire from Oct 30, in a move to ensure such purchases cannot be used to circumvent financing restrictions .

This group of buyers will face the same curbs as other private car buyers, including a loan tenure of up to seven years.

For cars with an open market value (OMV) of $20,000 or less, buyers can borrow up to 70% of the purchase price. The maximum loan is reduced to 60% for cars with OMVs of more than $20,000.

The OMV is the base cost of the car before taxes.

In a joint release on Oct 29, the Ministry of Transport, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Law said there have been more instances of individuals registering private-hire cars with no intention of using them for ride-hailing services.

A recent surge of around 500 such registrations a month suggests that some may be doing so primarily to circumvent the loan restrictions, the authorities said.

Besides closing this loophole, the authorities said the move will also ensure that new private-hire car drivers will exercise the same financial prudence as other private car owners.

Individuals who register a vehicle as a private-hire car have till now been exempted from the loan curbs, which means they can borrow more and for longer periods. The authorities said the exemption was because the cars were meant for commercial use.

They noted that the private-hire car fleet in Singapore has expanded and stabilised.

Private-hire cars consist of vehicles that can be used to offer ride-hailing or limousine services, as well as those that can be rented out to individuals.

There are 98,621 private-hire cars in Singapore as at the end of September. This is up from 71,147 cars at the end of 2020 when the private-hire car industry was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The authorities said that the government had considered other measures, like creating a separate certificate of entitlement (COE) category for private-hire and car leasing companies. But this would likely cause private-hire car drivers to pay higher rental rates and users to pay higher fares, they added.

Previously, only companies were allowed to register rental cars, until the Land Transport Authority lifted this requirement in 2017, allowing individuals to register rental cars.

As for the rules governing motor vehicle loans, the current restrictions came into force in May 2016. This was an easing of the curbs set in 2013, which restricted buyers of cars with an OMV of up to $20,000 to borrow 60% of the car price, and 50% for cars with OMVs that exceed $20,000. Motor vehicle financing loans cannot be longer than five years.

The loan restrictions of 2013 were put in place to help restrain escalating certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums and consequent inflationary pressures, according to the MAS in 2016.

Lee Nian Tjoe is senior transport correspondent at The Straits Times, where he also oversees the Motoring section.

Ministry of Transport

此举旨在阻止个人注册私人出租车以规避贷款限制。

《海峡时报》摄影：郭志雄

发布于2026年10月29日晚上8点

更新于2026年10月29日晚上8:01

新加坡——从10月30日起，汽车贷款限制将扩大到购买用于私人租赁的汽车的个人，此举旨在确保此类购买不会被用来规避融资限制。

这部分购车者将面临与其他私家车购车者相同的限制，包括最长七年的贷款期限。

对于公开市场价值（OMV）为 20,000 美元或以下的汽车，购车者最多可贷款购车价格的 70%。对于公开市场价值超过 20,000 美元的汽车，最高贷款额度降至购车价格的 60%。

OMV 是汽车税前的基本成本。

10月29日，新加坡交通部、金融管理局、能源、贸易和工业部以及律政部联合发布声明称，越来越多的人注册私家车，但并不打算将其用于网约车服务。

当局表示，近期此类登记数量激增，每月约有 500 起，这表明有些人这样做主要是为了规避贷款限制。