Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his answers. The Senior Parliamentary Secretary highlighted the harsh punishments when retailers are caught with selling illegal batteries or devices. Can the Senior Parliamentary Secretary share with the House, despite these harsh punishments, what are the challenges that LTA face in trying to clamp down on the number of retailers selling illegal devices as well as illegal batteries? And are there any new plans that LTA may have to deal with the continuing import of illegal batteries and devices?
Mr Baey Yam Keng: We can only conduct operations against retailers when they have a physical shop. But what we find is that a lot of people or riders purchase their devices online and some of these sources are overseas. That is where we will have challenges in enforcing against such online retailers. I would like to remind the public that, especially for electronic devices, it is critical to ensure that these devices are meant for use in Singapore and comply with the regulations in Singapore.
For some of these devices, they may be purported to be very good and very reasonably priced, but they may be constructed for use in a different climate, in different terrain, than Singapore. So, I would urge consumers to keep their eyes and ears open and look out for the right devices to purchase.
Ministry of Transport
5 March 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3517
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 