Certificate of Entitlement

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The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) is a scheme instituted by the government of Singapore to curb car ownership, and hence, the number of vehicles on the country's roads. This system, in effect, requires residents of Singapore to bid for the right to buy a motor vehicle, with the number of certificates deliberately restricted.

There are five categories of COE:

Non-transferable categories:

Category A : Cars (1,600cc and below) & taxis
Category B : Cars (1,601cc and above)
Category D : Motorcycles

Transferable categories:

Category C : Goods Vehicles and Buses
Category E : Open Category

Non-transferable COEs are tied to the vehicle, but the vehicle and its COE can be sold to a new owner. Transferable COEs can be changed from a vehicle to another.

An additional restriction on car ownership is the requirement that motor vehicles more than twelve years old, known as 'time expired' vehicles, must either be scrapped, or exported from Singapore, usually to neighbouring countries. Some of these vehicles have been exported further afield to other right hand drive countries like New Zealand, which has traditionally imported such vehicles from Japan.

Owners of such vehicles are given financial incentives to do this, which include a Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF).

According to the Land Transport Authority, the number of COEs planned for the year 2006 is 131,127. From 2006 to 2008, the vehicle growth rate will be kept at three percent per annum. ^[1]

This policy was implemented to reduce traffic congestions and it complements other measures to curb road usage such as the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme. The COE scheme has been criticised for raising the cost of vehicles and as a means for increasing government revenues.