LTA to introduce new five-day grace period for motorists who didn’t pay an ERP charge

With effect from 1 October 2024, motorists who are liable for a missed ERP charge will be notified via SMS from LTA and have five days to settle the outstanding ERP charge without the usual $10 admin fee.

According to LTA (Land Transport Authority), this new “give chance” concession is made possible by the reduction in backend processing costs with the progressive rollout of the new On-Board Unit (OBU) to replace the old In-vehicle Unit (IU). The OBU is able to detect and process missed ERP (electronic road pricing) payments directly, unlike the less connected IU system. 

An LTA official has confirmed with Motorist that this grace period applies to all motorists, regardless of whether they have the old IU or new OBU.

If the motorist fails to pay the ERP charge within the five-day grace period, LTA will send the usual physical letter to his/her registered address to demand for the outstanding payment, plus a $10 administrative fee which presumably covers the paperwork and whatnot. 

Motorists should settle ERP-related summonses promptly, because these are surprisingly serious offences under Singapore’s Road Traffic Act, Chapter 276 - offenders may be fined up to $1,000 and/or jailed for up to three months. 

ERP arrears could arise from insufficient value in the IU/OBU card for a road-pricing deduction by an ERP gantry during restricted hours, not fully or properly inserting a card into the IU/OBU, or not using a compatible card at all with the IU/OBU (nor an activated cardless-payment option).

Other than ensuring there is always enough money in your stored-value card used for ERP with your IU or OBU, another way to avoid missing ERP charges is to sign up for automatic ERP payments through the NETS vCashCard or EZ-Link Motoring Service.

Read More: The Motorist Guide to activating the Motorist super app as the alternative display for the OBU

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