Road Traffic Act 1961 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Licensing of Drivers and Riders
35. Licensing of drivers, etc.
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A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a road without a licence for that type of vehicle. A person must not employ or allow someone without such a licence to drive. The penalty is a fine up to $10,000, prison up to 3 years, or both. For repeat offenders, the limits are $20,000 and 6 years.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Last amended by an amending law of 2023. 4 amendments in all.
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a person must not drive a motor vehicle of any class or description on a road unless the person is the holder of a driving licence authorising him or her to drive a motor vehicle of that class or description.
motor vehicle
“motor vehicle” means a vehicle that —(a)is propelled wholly or partly by a motor or by any means other than human or animal power; and(b)is used or intended to be used on any road;
A person must not employ or permit another person to drive a motor vehicle on a road unless the person so employed or permitted to drive is the holder of such a driving licence.
road
“road” means any public road and any other road to which the public has access, and includes —(a)any road within Pulau Bukom;(b)any road within the limits of any installation of the Singapore Armed Forces declared by the Minister by notification in the Gazette to be an installation to which this Act applies;(c)any bridge over which a road passes; and(d)any road, to which the public does not have access, which the Minister charged with the responsibility for transport prescribes, by notification in the Gazette, to be a road to which this Act applies;
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction as follows:
to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both;
where the person is a repeat offender, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 years or to both.
For the purposes of subsection (3) and section 35AA, a person is a repeat offender in relation to an offence under subsection (3) if the person who is convicted, or found guilty, of an offence under that subsection (called the current offence) for contravening subsection (1) or (2) —
has been convicted or found guilty on at least one other earlier occasion of an offence under subsection (3) for contravening the same provision as the current offence; or
has (whether before, on or after 1 November 2019) been convicted or found guilty on at least one other earlier occasion of an offence under subsection (3) as in force immediately before that date for contravening the same provision as the current offence.
An application for a grant or renewal of a driving licence must be made in any form that the Deputy Commissioner of Police may design and utilise.
driving licence
“driving licence” means a licence to drive a motor vehicle granted under the provisions of Part 2;
On an application for the grant of a driving licence, the applicant must, in addition to any declaration required under this Act, state whether —
he or she has held a driver’s certificate or licence in any part of the world;
any such certificate or licence has been endorsed, suspended or cancelled;
he or she has been disqualified from holding a licence; and
he or she is under the provisions of this Act disqualified by reason of age or otherwise from obtaining the licence for which he or she is applying.
Subject to the provisions of this Part as to tests of competence to drive and as to the physical fitness of applicants for driving licences, the Deputy Commissioner of Police must, upon payment of the prescribed fee (if any), grant a licence to any person who —
licence
“licence” means a vehicle licence issued under the provisions of this Part.
applies for it in the prescribed manner; and
declares in writing that the person is not disqualified by any reason (age or otherwise) from obtaining the licence.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police may, upon payment of the prescribed fee (if any), renew the driving licence of any person who holds a driving licence authorising him or her to drive a class or description of a motor vehicle if the Deputy Commissioner of Police is satisfied that the person has passed the whole or any part of the prescribed test of competence to drive that class or description of vehicle that the Deputy Commissioner of Police may require.
Deputy Commissioner of Police
“Deputy Commissioner of Police”, in relation to any provision of this Act or rules or any other subsidiary legislation made under this Act, means the Deputy Commissioner of Police designated by the Commissioner of Police for the purposes of that provision, and includes any police officer who —(a)is not below the rank of sergeant; and(b)is authorised under the hand of the Deputy Commissioner of Police for the purposes of that provision, to exercise the powers of that Deputy Commissioner of Police;
The Deputy Commissioner of Police must grant a licence under subsection (6) or renew a licence under subsection (6A) except in the case of an applicant —
who is disqualified as provided under this section; or
to whom, in the opinion of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, it would not be in the public interest to grant or renew a licence.
A driving licence may authorise the holder of the driving licence to drive all classes of motor vehicles or such class or classes or such type or types within any class or classes as the Deputy Commissioner of Police may specify therein.
Where the applicant is subject to any restriction with respect to the driving of any class of motor vehicle, the extent of the restriction must be specified in the prescribed manner on the driving licence.
Subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules, unless earlier revoked or surrendered —
a driving licence granted to a person who is, or a renewed driving licence of a person who becomes, a citizen of Singapore or permanent resident of Singapore remains in force for the lifetime of that person; and
a driving licence granted to, or a renewed driving licence of, a person who is not a citizen of Singapore or permanent resident of Singapore remains in force for a period of 5 years beginning on the date of such grant or renewal (as the case may be) or any shorter period that the Deputy Commissioner of Police may specify in any particular case.
Despite subsection (10) but subject to the other provisions of this Act, a driving licence mentioned in subsection (10)(a) or (b) ceases to be in force when the person who holds the driving licence attains any of the prescribed ages applicable to the person, unless before attaining that age —
the person undergoes the prescribed medical examination and is duly certified by a registered medical practitioner as being physically fit to drive a motor vehicle of the class or description in that licence; and
the person passes the whole or any part of the prescribed test of competence to drive that the Deputy Commissioner of Police may require for the person to drive a motor vehicle of the class or description in that licence.
Subsection (10) does not apply to a provisional licence referred to in section 36(3).
[Deleted by Act 28 of 2014]
The Deputy Commissioner of Police may refuse to renew any driving licence if the Deputy Commissioner of Police is satisfied —
that the holder of the driving licence has not complied with any process of court issued against him or her in respect of any offence committed by him or her under this Act or the rules or any written law specified in Part 2 of the First Schedule; or
that the holder of the driving licence has, pursuant to a warrant of court, been arrested in connection with an offence under this Act or the rules or any written law specified in Part 2 of the First Schedule and the offence has not been tried and determined by the court.
Subject to subsection (15), the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, amend Part 2 of the First Schedule.
Minister
“Minister” means —(a)except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), the Minister charged with the responsibility for land transport;(b)for the purposes of the whole of Parts 2 and 3 and sections 75(1), 82, 112(1), (3) and (4), 113(1) and (2), 114(1), 116(2), 121(2) and 143(3) and (11), the Minister charged with the responsibility for law and order; and(c)for the purposes of sections 131B(7), 135(2), 140(1) and (2), 142 and 142A(1), the Minister charged with the responsibility for land transport or the Minister charged with the responsibility for law and order, as appropriate;
The Minister must, before exercising his or her powers under subsection (14), consult the Minister responsible for the written law to which the amendment relates.
Where a person’s driving licence has ceased to be in force for a period of 3 years or more, the Deputy Commissioner of Police must not grant another driving licence to the person authorising the person to drive a class or description of motor vehicle unless —
the person passes the test of competence to drive referred to in section 36(1); or
the Deputy Commissioner of Police is satisfied that, at any time within 3 years before the date that the person applies for the other driving licence, the person held a driver’s certificate or licence granted by the competent authority in any country other than Singapore authorising the person to drive a motor vehicle of that class or description.
A person is disqualified from obtaining a driving licence —
while another driving licence granted to him or her is in force whether the licence is suspended or not;
if he or she is, by a conviction under this Act or by an order of a court in Singapore or Malaysia, disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence.
In any proceedings, the fact that a driving licence has been granted to a person is evidence that the person for the purpose of obtaining the licence made a declaration that he or she was not disqualified from holding or obtaining the licence.
If any person is aggrieved by the refusal of the Deputy Commissioner of Police to grant or renew a driving licence or by the revocation of a driving licence under section 37, he or she may, after giving the Deputy Commissioner of Police notice of his or her intention to do so, appeal to the Commissioner of Police and on the appeal the Commissioner of Police may make any order that the Commissioner of Police thinks fit and any order so made is binding on the Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Commissioner of Police
“Commissioner of Police” means the public officer appointed under section 6(1) of the Police Force Act 2004;
[Deleted by Act 31 of 2023 wef 01/12/2025]