From January 2027, data from ERP 2 on-board units can be used to prevent, detect and solve crimes

SINGAPORE – From January 2027, information stored on the next-generation Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) on-board units (OBUs) is expected to be used to prevent, detect and solve crimes.

Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming, speaking in Parliament on Nov 3, said ERP 2 OBU data will be among the investigation and intelligence tools made available to the authorities in the effort to fight crime.

Goh was replying to a question from Jackson Lam (Nee Soon GRC), who asked if the ERP 2 system can be used for law enforcement and what safeguards will be put in place to control such access.

ERP 2 uses satellite technology, instead of gantries, to determine a vehicle’s location for toll charging.

All Singapore-registered vehicles on the roads must be fitted with the next-generation OBU from Jan 1, 2027.

Goh said ERP 2 data will be subject to safeguards on its access and use, as with other data used by the Home Team.

Lam also asked how long vehicle-specific data from OBUs can be retained.

Goh said the police will only retain data for as long as necessary to complete criminal investigations or court proceedings.

He added that access and use of ERP 2 data by law enforcement agencies will be bound by the same legal and data governance safeguards that apply to all other sensors or information sources.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) in September said the new ERP system will be used in enforcement efforts in vehicle-related offences, such as the provision of illegal cross-border taxis services.

While ERP 2 could be used for enforcement against speeding offences, LTA at the time said further enhancements were needed before any such use.

Tin Pei Ling (Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC) earlier in the Nov 3 sitting asked what measures have been put in place to protect the use of ERP 2 data.

In her reply, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Transport Sun Xueling said the OBUs are designed with a high level of security and encryption.

She added that the system conforms to stringent international technical standards and strict regulations by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to ensure safety, reliability and interoperability.

Sun said: “Data stored in the OBUs cannot be directly accessed by motorists. That’s not the intention.

“So, any data transmitted by the OBUs can only be accessed by the Government and is stored in a secure environment.”

She added that data collected on individual vehicles is aggregated and anonymised when transferred to LTA’s backend system for traffic management and planning.

But when specific vehicles have to be identified for enforcement purposes, LTA can retrieve location data from sensors and systems, she said.

Tin also asked for a few examples in which ERP 2 data could be used.

Sun said detecting deregistered vehicles, the use of off-peak cars driven outside their permitted hours and the use of vehicles – such as those on lay-up and keeping schemes – that should not be driven on roads were a few likely instances.

These were already enforced under the previous ERP system, she added.

Unused vehicles on the lay-up scheme need to be kept at a designated garage address, and vehicle owners are temporarily exempted from paying road tax.

Those on the keeping scheme are deregistered or special-category vehicles that have to be kept in a private compound for static display purposes.

On whether distance-based charging might be rolled out in future, Sun said the authorities will consider doing so at a later stage.

LTA in the past said there were “no immediate plans” to introduce distance-based charging when ERP 2 was first announced.