The Land Transport Authority has proposed folding Certificate of Entitlement Categories A and B into one passenger car category, applying rebates or surcharges of up to S$15,000 depending on a model's value, and has opened a public consultation that runs from 8 October to 11.59pm on 2 November, according to Yahoo News Singapore.
Separately, the Ministry of Defence said a full-time national serviceman died on Thursday, 8 October, after he was found unconscious at Basic Military Training School 3 on Pulau Tekong. He was discovered at the foot of a building at about 1.22pm and was not taking part in training at the time, MINDEF said.
Why it matters
The two developments touch on issues that reach a large share of households in Singapore: the cost of owning a car, and the safety of national servicemen during basic training.
Under the current system, Category A and Category B cars are bid for in separate pools, and the two categories have historically produced different premium levels. The LTA's proposal would place all cars in a single bidding pool, producing one prevailing COE price, with the rebate or surcharge applied afterwards based on each model's median open market value.
The LTA said the engine capacity and power criteria it has used since 2014 have become less effective at sorting cars into the two categories. Electric vehicles and adjusted specifications have allowed more models to qualify for Category A, and Category A prices rose above Category B three times between February and June 2026, according to Yahoo News Singapore.
How the feebate bands would work
The LTA described the mechanism as a "feebate" — a fee-and-rebate system tied to a car's value rather than its engine size or power output. All cars would bid from one merged pool for a single prevailing COE price. A rebate or surcharge of up to S$15,000 would then be applied according to the median open market value of each model, with a maximum gap of S$30,000 between the two ends, according to reports.
In the three-band example the LTA set out, the Honda Jazz and Toyota Sienta would receive a S$15,000 rebate. The Toyota Corolla Altis would see no adjustment. The Tesla Model Y and Mercedes-Benz GLC would pay a S$15,000 surcharge.
The structure means buyers of less expensive models would effectively pay less than the headline COE price, while buyers of more expensive models would pay more. The prevailing premium itself would be common to all cars in the merged category.
Lim Zhijian, the LTA's chief operating officer, said it is timely to review whether the current categorisation of cars remains fit for purpose, according to Yahoo News Singapore.
The LTA said the merger idea came out of engagement with more than 200 people, and that it echoes a suggestion made by MP Edward Chia. The review is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, and the LTA said it will share its findings and recommendations by the first half of 2027.
The consultation is open to the public until 2 November, giving motorists, dealers and other interested parties roughly three and a half weeks to submit their views.
What MINDEF has said about the Tekong death
The serviceman was found at the foot of a building at about 1.22pm on Thursday and was not involved in training at the time, MINDEF said. He was taken to the Pulau Tekong Medical Centre for emergency treatment and then flown by helicopter to Singapore General Hospital.
He arrived at the hospital at 2.05pm and was pronounced dead at 2.27pm, according to MINDEF.
MINDEF said investigations are ongoing. Its statement did not give the serviceman's name or age, and did not say how he came to be found unconscious.
MINDEF and the Singapore Armed Forces extended their deepest condolences to the serviceman's family, and the SAF is assisting the family during their time of grief, according to MINDEF.
The death occurred at Basic Military Training School 3, one of the training establishments on Pulau Tekong, where enlistees undergo basic military training before posting to units or further courses.
Two tracks, one news cycle
The COE consultation and the Tekong death were both reported on Friday, 9 October, by Yahoo News Singapore, which carried them in a live news format alongside coverage from other outlets.
Coverage of the COE proposal was also carried by CNA, which reported on the fees and rebates attached to different models, and by AsiaOne, which framed the consultation around the question of whether Categories A and B should be merged. The Straits Times examined the broader fairness questions the system is facing, while The Business Times reported that car COE premiums have held above S$130,000 despite a slow market.
The LTA's review is not the first time the vehicle quota system has been adjusted. The categories have been revised before, and the 2014 shift to engine capacity and power criteria was itself an attempt to draw a clearer line between mass-market and higher-end cars. The LTA's position now is that those criteria have been eroded by changes in vehicle technology and specifications.
For car buyers, the practical question is what a merged category would do to the price they pay. A single pool would remove the separate Category A and Category B premiums, but the feebate would reintroduce a price difference between models, this time based on open market value rather than engine size. Whether that produces a fairer spread is the substance of the consultation.
For the SAF, the death on Pulau Tekong raises questions that MINDEF has not yet answered publicly, including the circumstances in which the serviceman was found. MINDEF has said only that investigations are ongoing.
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The LTA will publish its findings and recommendations by the first half of 2027, after the review concludes at the end of 2026. MINDEF has not indicated when its investigations into the Tekong death will be completed.
