SINGAPORE: Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums closed higher across all categories in the latest bidding exercise on Wednesday (Mar 19).

For Category A cars, or those 1,600cc and below with horsepower not exceeding 130bhp, premiums closed at S$94,502 (US$70,880), up from S$92,730 in the last exercise.

Premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B rose to S$116,890 from S$113,000.

COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, rose to S$70,089 from S$67,001 in the previous bidding exercise.

Motorcycle premiums closed at S$9,511, up from S$9,201 in the last exercise.

Open category COEs, which can be used for any vehicle type but end up being used mainly for large cars, saw the biggest increase as it rose to S$116,991 from S$112,901.

A total of 4,624 bids were received, with a quota of 2,885 COEs available.

Earlier this month, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) introduced measures to stabilise the supply of private-hire cars, with an immediate requirement regarding the disclosure of a vehicle’s history for all newly registered, converted or transferred private-hire cars.

The new rule also applied to cars registered using COEs obtained from the bidding exercise that ended on Mar 5.

In February, LTA introduced a mandatory three-year lock-in period for all newly registered or converted chauffeured private-hire cars owned by businesses, as well as vehicles that are transferred from individuals to businesses.

According to LTA, this rule will help ensure that businesses acquiring these vehicles primarily use them for leasing to drivers offering ride-hailing services.

It also prevents the premature conversion of such vehicles out of the chauffeured private-hire car scheme, which will affect the supply of vehicles available for point-to-point services.