Ofo's licence may be suspended if it fails to meet regulatory requirements: LTA
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 16, 2019 2:17 AMByGoh Yan Han
SINGAPORE - Chinese bicycle-sharing operator ofo has breached multiple regulatory requirements and must meet all requirements by Feb 13, failing which its licence may be suspended, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement on Tuesday (Jan 15).
An ample preparation period for compliance had been given to the company, said LTA.
The statement said that ofo had not been able to reduce its deployed bicycle fleet to the stipulated maximum fleet size of 10,000, despite multiple warnings and regulatory action taken against it. It also did not manage to implement the QR-code parking system by Monday.
"We view these as serious breaches of critical requirements," said LTA.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, an LTA spokesman said that it has not received any request from ofo to surrender its licence.
The spokesman added that LTA is currently in contact with ofo regarding its non-compliance with regulations and reports of ofo's closure of its overseas business units.
LTA added that since opening licence applications in May 2018, the authority had been communicating to potential licensees the regulatory requirements as well as the necessity of complying with the requirements after licences were granted.
The authority has been working with licensees after the first batch of licences was awarded in October 2018 to help them comply with the requirements.
Last November, LTA had announced that it would take action against ofo for breaching the fleet-size quota. The company could have been fined up to $100,000 for its infringement of the Parking Place Act.
In December, ST reported that irate ofo users were complaining that their refund requests had gone unanswered. When ST visited ofo's registered address then, staff of other companies there said they had not seen anyone from ofo for several weeks.
ST has contacted ofo for more information.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.