Singapore Certificate of Entitlement
The Singapore government has long been fearful of excessive traffic in this small city state. They have deliberately made it very expensive to own a vehicle and although the people of Singapore enjoy a relatively high per capita income, car ownership remains very low.
One of the measures used to control the amount of cars on the road is the Vehicle Quota Scheme. Anyone wishing to own a car or motorbike must bid for a Certificate of Entitlement and there are a limited amount issued each month. Demand is so high that the certificates are beyond what many can afford, which drives people to rely on public transport (which is of course, the aim of the government).
A Certificate of Entitlement will likely cost many thousands of Singapore Dollars and permits a particular vehicle to be used on the roads for 10 years. Vehicles more than 10 years old must be either scrapped or exported. This has rather unusually turned Singapore into the world's second largest car exporter (after Japan).
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Bidding is held twice per month, lasts for three days and typically commences on the first and third Monday of the month. Your car dealer can take care of the bidding for you. Once issued, the Certificate is associated with that vehicle for the entire 10 year period and cannot be transferred to another vehicle, although the owner is free to sell the vehicle and it's certificate together.
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