4.1 VLPS Demerit Points, Suspension & Revocation Thresholds

4.1 VLPS Demerit Points, Suspension & Revocation Thresholds

Core Principle: The Vocational Licence Points System (VLPS) is not an informal LTA scoring scheme. It is created by the Road Traffic (Chauffeured Private Hire Car and Taxi Vocational Licence Demerit Points System) Rules 2017 (S 365/2017), made under section 111 of the Road Traffic Act and in force since 1 July 2017. Those Rules define the scheduled offences, the points each carries, the suspension bands and the revocation threshold.

The Rules apply to a vocational licence authorising a person to drive a chauffeured private hire car, a taxi, or both - so a PDVL holder and a TDVL holder sit in the same system, with some offences applying only to one or the other.

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1. How Points Are Awarded

Rule 3 is short and worth knowing precisely. Where the holder of a vocational licence either is convicted of a scheduled offence or pays a sum of money to compound one, the Registrar must award the demerit points specified for that offence in the First Schedule.

The word "must" matters: once an offence is compounded or proved, the points follow automatically. Paying the composition sum settles the money side and avoids a court conviction, but it does not avoid the points.

The Date That Counts

Points take effect:

• on the date the scheduled offence was committed, where there is a conviction; or
• on the date the offence is reasonably suspected to have been committed, where it is compounded.

They do not run from the date the notice arrived, the date the fine was paid, or the date the court heard the matter. A driver who delays paying a composition sum gains nothing, because the clock is anchored to the offence date.

The Registrar keeps a register of every vocational licence holder who has been awarded demerit points.

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2. The Relevant Period: Any 24 Months Ending on the Latest Offence

This is the single most misunderstood mechanic in the system. The Rules define the relevant period as:

any period of 24 months ending on the date of the latest commission or alleged commission of a scheduled offence within that period.

So the window is not a fixed calendar window and it is not measured from today. Each time a new scheduled offence is committed, look back 24 months from that offence and add up everything inside.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                   How the 24-Month Relevant Period Works                |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Offence A: 10 Mar 2024   -  5 points                                   |
|  Offence B: 02 Sep 2025   - 12 points                                   |
|  Offence C: 20 Jan 2026   -  5 points                                   |
|                                                                         |
|  New offence on 02 Sep 2025 -> look back to 03 Sep 2023                 |
|      A + B are inside the window  =  17 points  ->  8-week suspension    |
|                                                                         |
|  New offence on 20 Jan 2026 -> look back to 21 Jan 2024                 |
|      A + B + C are inside the window = 22 points -> EXCEEDS 20          |
|      -> the licence may be REVOKED                                      |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The practical consequence of the rolling window is the point LTA publicises: a driver who keeps a clean record for 24 months from the date of the last offence will have the earlier points fall out of any future relevant period. There is no fee to pay and no form to submit - it happens because the window moves.

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3. Suspension Bands and the Revocation Threshold

The Second Schedule to the Rules sets four bands. Learn them as written, because the top band is "16 or more", not "16 to 20".

Revocation: separately, under Rule 4(3), a vocational licence may be revoked if the total points awarded within the relevant period exceeds 20. So 21 points is the revocation line, and several single offences - plying for hire, driving with no decal displayed, permitting another person to use your vocational licence, driving on an expired vocational licence - carry 21 points on their own.

"May", Not "Must"

Rules 4(2) and 4(3) both say a licence may be suspended or revoked. The Registrar's power is discretionary and is exercised under section 110(4)(b) of the Road Traffic Act, which lets LTA treat a holder as not a fit or proper person because of conduct. Do not assume an automatic outcome - but do not gamble on leniency either.

The Notice Procedure (Rule 5)

Before suspending or revoking, the Registrar must give the holder written notice stating:

• the date the suspension or revocation is intended to take effect; and
• the time within which written representations may be made - not less than 14 days after the notice is given.

At the end of that period the Registrar considers any representations received, decides whether to suspend or revoke, and notifies the holder in writing. This is a real opportunity: a driver who has a genuine explanation, or whose circumstances have changed, should use it rather than let the deadline pass.

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4. The Points Scale You Will Actually See

Scheduled offences carry 3, 5, 6, 12 or 21 points. There is no 10-point band and no 24-point band in the VLPS.

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5. VLPS and the Traffic Police Demerit Points System

Singapore runs two separate demerit systems, and a vocational driver is inside both at once.

Why the Driving Licence Comes First

A vocational licence authorises a person to drive a public service vehicle; it does not replace the underlying Class 3 or 3A driving licence. If the Traffic Police or a court suspends or disqualifies the driving licence, the driver cannot lawfully drive at all - so the PDVL becomes unusable regardless of the VLPS balance. LTA also will not renew a vocational licence for a holder whose driving licence has been disqualified or suspended, or who has been convicted in court.

Driving while disqualified is dealt with under section 43 of the Road Traffic Act and is punished far more heavily than an ordinary traffic offence, with a fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment of up to 3 years or both.