Bus Services Industry Act 2015 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 7A · Conduct of Individuals on Buses and at Bus Depots and Bus Interchanges
42AA. Screening, etc., bus passengers and entrants to bus interchanges
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2025.
It is a condition of entry to any bus or bus interchange that a bus passenger of the bus or an entrant to the bus interchange must, if asked by a police officer or an approved person anywhere in or in the immediate vicinity of the bus or bus interchange, do one or more of the following for the purpose of ensuring the safety or security of persons who are or may be on board the bus or at the bus interchange:
bus
“bus” means any motor vehicle registered as a bus under the Road Traffic Act 1961;
undergo any form of security screening mentioned in subsection (2);
undergo a frisk search;
permit an inspection to be made of the bus passenger’s or entrant’s personal property;
permit a search through any bag, container or other receptacle or any garments removed in accordance with subsection (2).
To ensure the safety or security of persons who are or may be on board a bus or at any bus interchange, a police officer or an approved person may ask a bus passenger of the bus or an entrant to the bus interchange to do one or more of the following:
bus interchange
“bus interchange” means a terminal or station with purpose‑built facilities —(a)for the commencement or termination of one or more bus services; and(b)that may also provide for the boarding or alighting of passengers;
walk through a screening detector;
pass the bus passenger’s or entrant’s personal property through an X‑ray machine;
allow the police officer or approved person to pass a hand‑held scanner in close proximity to the bus passenger’s or entrant’s personal property;
allow the police officer or approved person to inspect the bus passenger’s or entrant’s personal property;
produce or empty the contents of any bag, container or other receptacle in the possession or apparently in the immediate control of the bus passenger or entrant;
turn out the bus passenger’s or entrant’s pockets or remove all articles from the bus passenger’s or entrant’s clothing, and allow the police officer or approved person to inspect them;
remove any coat, jacket, gloves, shoes or hat or any other thing worn or carried by the bus passenger or entrant, which may be conveniently removed if worn and that is specified by the police officer or approved person, and allow the police officer or approved person to inspect the coat, jacket, gloves, shoes or hat or other thing;
open an article for inspection and allow the police officer or approved person to inspect the article.
To ensure the safety or security of persons who are or may be on board a bus or at any bus interchange, a police officer or senior approved person may also ask a bus passenger of the bus or an entrant to the bus interchange to do one or more of the following:
officer
“officer”, in relation to a corporation, includes —(a)a director or secretary of, or a person employed in an executive capacity by, the corporation;(b)any receiver or manager, or any receiver and manager, of any part of the undertaking of the corporation, appointed under a power contained in any instrument or by the General Division of the High Court or by creditors;(c)any liquidator of the corporation appointed in a voluntary winding up or by the General Division of the High Court or by creditors; and(d)any judicial manager of the corporation appointed under Part 7 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018;
undergo a frisk search;
allow the police officer or senior approved person to pass a hand‑held scanner in close proximity to the bus passenger or entrant.
To avoid doubt, a police officer or an approved person may make a request to a bus passenger of a bus or an entrant to a bus interchange to do anything under subsection (2)(d), (e), (f), (g) or (h) if the police officer or approved person (as the case may be) reasonably considers it necessary to make such a request under that provision, whether or not the bus passenger or entrant or the personal property of the bus passenger or entrant has been subjected to screening or a frisk search under subsection (2)(a), (b) or (c) or (3).
bus passenger
“bus passenger”, in relation to a bus, means an individual carried on board the bus, and includes —(a)an individual boarding or intending to board the bus for the purpose of travelling on the bus as a passenger; and(b)an individual boarding or intending to board the bus, or travelling on the bus, for the purpose of engaging in any work on the bus;
Without limiting subsection (6), where a bus passenger of a bus or an entrant to a bus interchange refuses —
to permit to be screened or inspected under subsection (2) or (3)(b) by a police officer, an approved person or a senior approved person, as the case may be —
the bus passenger’s or entrant’s personal property; or
any bag, container or other receptacle in the possession or apparently in the immediate control of the bus passenger or entrant;
to allow a police officer, an approved person or a senior approved person (as the case may be) to pass a hand‑held scanner in close proximity to the bus passenger or entrant or the bus passenger’s or entrant’s personal property under subsection (2) or (3)(b); or
to undergo a frisk search under subsection (3)(a) by a police officer or senior approved person,the police officer, approved person or senior approved person (as the case may be) may order the bus passenger or entrant to immediately leave the bus or bus interchange (as the case may be) with that personal property, bag, container or receptacle, as the case may be.
An individual who, without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply with any request or order of a police officer, an approved person or a senior approved person (as the case may be) under subsection (2), (3) or (5) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.
However, it is not an offence under subsection (6) for any individual to refuse to comply with any request or order made or given by —
a police officer who is not in uniform and who fails to declare his or her office; or
an approved person or a senior approved person who fails to declare his or her office and, in the case of an outsourced enforcement officer, who also refuses to produce his or her identification card on demand being made by that individual.
In this section —
“approved person”, in relation to a bus or bus interchange, means any of the following individuals who is authorised by the LTA in writing to exercise any power under this section at or in relation to the bus or bus interchange concerned:
LTA
“LTA” means the Land Transport Authority of Singapore constituted under the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act 1995;
an officer or employee of the LTA;
a member of an auxiliary police force in uniform;
an employee of —
a bus operator holding a Class 1 bus service licence to provide a bus service using the bus; or
bus operator
“bus operator”, in relation to a bus service, means the person who operates the bus service, but does not include —(a)the LTA; or(b)a person who merely arranges for the registration of a bus, drives a bus or maintains or arranges for the maintenance of a bus;
a bus interchange operator holding a bus interchange licence to operate the bus interchange;
bus interchange licence
“bus interchange licence” means a bus interchange licence granted (or deemed granted) under Part 4 to operate a bus interchange specified in the licence;
a security officer (within the meaning given by section 13 of the Private Security Industry Act 2007) engaged by the bus operator or bus interchange operator mentioned in paragraph (c);
an outsourced enforcement officer;
“entrant”, in relation to a bus interchange, means an individual who is about to enter the bus interchange, and includes an individual who is within the bus interchange, whether or not a bus passenger;
“frisk search” means a search of an individual conducted by quickly running the hands over the individual’s outer clothing;
“hand‑held scanner” means a device that may be passed over or around an individual or an individual’s personal property to detect metal, dangerous objects or explosive or other hazardous substances;
“identification card”, in relation to an outsourced enforcement officer, means an identification card issued under section 11(3) of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act 1995 to the officer;
“inspect”, in relation to an article, includes handling, opening, examining and moving the contents of the article;
“outsourced enforcement officer”, in relation to any provision of this Part or regulations made for the purposes of this Part, means an individual who —
is appointed under section 11(1) of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act 1995;
is authorised by or under that Act to exercise any powers under any provision of this Part or regulations made for the purposes of this Part, as the case may be; and
is acting within that authorisation;
“personal property”, in relation to an individual, means anything carried by the individual or anything apparently in the immediate control of the individual, but does not include clothing being worn by the individual;
control
“control” includes control as a result of, or by means of, any trust, agreement, arrangement, understanding or practice, whether or not having legal or equitable force and whether or not based on legal or equitable rights;
“senior approved person”, in relation to a bus or bus interchange, means an approved person who is authorised by the LTA in writing to exercise any power under this section at or in relation to the bus or bus interchange concerned, who is any of the following:
a member of an auxiliary police force in uniform;
a security officer (within the meaning given by section 13 of the Private Security Industry Act 2007) engaged by —
a bus operator holding a Class 1 bus service licence to provide a bus service using the bus; or
Class 1 bus service licence
“Class 1 bus service licence” means a bus service licence authorising the operation of 10 or more regular route services specified in the licence;
a bus interchange operator holding a bus interchange licence to operate the bus interchange;
operate
“operate” means —(a)for a bus service — to control or direct the operations of the bus service in connection with a business for, or involving, the transport of passengers by road by that bus service, but does not include —(i)merely arranging for the registration of a bus;(ii)merely driving a bus; or(iii)merely maintaining or arranging for the maintenance of a bus; and(b)for a bus depot or bus interchange — to control or direct the operations of the bus depot or bus interchange in connection with a business, but does not include the following:(i)merely driving a bus;(ii)merely repairing a bus;(iii)merely refuelling a bus, or supplying fuel for buses, parked at a bus depot or bus interchange;(iv)merely charging the battery of a bus, or supplying electricity for the charging of batteries of buses, parked at a bus depot or bus interchange;
an outsourced enforcement officer.