Review the COE bidding system

28 July 2012 

Editor, Voices
Today Paper

I agree with the decision of the Land Transport Authoirty (LTA)
to take taxis off the bidding system for the Certificate of Entitlement (COE).

This bidding system which was introduced to control the growth of the 

vehicle population has also produced erratic and undesirable results.It has 

also given opportunity for speculators, mainly car dealers, to profit at 

the expense of consumers.

Several attempts were made over the years to tweak the system to

address the undesirable outcomes. It is time to look into the underlying flaws 

of the system and to look for a better alternative.

I suggest the following approach:

• The COE prices should be fixed by the LTA taking into
  account the supply and demand
• If the demand for the COE exceed the supply, the COEs will be
  allotted by ballot.
• To prevent speculation, any transfer of COE within one year
  should be subject to payment of a fee

Let us have responsible people make the judgement on the appropriate COE 

price, rather than leave this matter to the vagrancy of the market and

speculators.

Tan Kin Lian

UPDATE
Read this view by Chua Chin Leng
http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.sg/2012/07/when-tolerance-becomes-unbearable.html