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SINGAPORE: A man who violated a COVID-19 law and committed traffic violations while leaving his home to provide carpool services during the “circuit breaker” received three days in jail, a fine of S $ 1,800 and a ban on drive for a year on Friday (March 12).
Ng Chiang Huat, 53, pleaded guilty to three counts of leaving his home without a reasonable excuse to provide carpool services through the SGHitch Telegram group in April 2020, and of driving without a required insurance policy and a valid public service vehicle license.
Ng was a sales representative when he posted a message on the Telegram group chat, which was renamed COVID-19 Lockdown SGHitch, on the morning of April 23, 2020.
He wrote “Driver looking for Pax”, with a pickup point in Choa Chu Kang and another in the city area. A person responded to Ng and he accepted the request to transport them from Block 430 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4 to Plaza Singapura for S $ 12.
At approximately 10.20 a.m. M., A man and a woman got into Ng’s car and paid him S $ 12 through PayNow when they got into the vehicle.
As they were along Handy Road, an agent from the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) stopped Ng’s vehicle. Ng lied and claimed that his passengers were related to him, but could not give their names.
The passengers turned out to be LTA agents. Ng later admitted that he had been transporting them for a fee.
Chiang Huat on Handy Road on April 23 (Photo: Land Transportation Authority)
The prosecution had asked for at least a week in jail, a fine of S $ 1,800 and a driving ban for one year, noting that the administrators of the Telegram chat group had added a heading: “IMPORTANT NOTICE THAT CARPOOLING (ES) NOW ILLEGAL DURING COVID-19 “.
There was widespread media publicity that ride-sharing services were banned as of April 16, 2020, the prosecution said, but Ng persisted in advertising his services seven days after they were banned.
Ng could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S $ 10,000, or both for violating COVID-19 laws.
