Guide to becoming a PHV driver in Singapore *Updated 10 Nov 2024
- Kok Charles
- Nov 17, 2024
- 11 min read
Updated: Nov 18, 2024
A quick step by step walkthrough for people who wish to become a PHV driver in Singapore; hope it helps you :)
The 6 steps to become a private hire driver in Singapore:
• Step 1: Check if you meet the requirements to get LTA approval letter (within a week from my experience)
• Step 2: Health examination (chest X ray, eyesight and verbal doctor interview) (3 days wait for chest x ray report, from my experience)
• Step 3: Taking the course (NTUC learning Hub) (~2 weeks waiting time)
• Step 4: Preparing and taking the test (at least 1 week wait)
• Step 5: Getting your car (Renting a car vs buying your own car (low capital buying vs high capital buying)
• Step 6: Registering on your desired private hire app / platform (approval usually within 48 hours)
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• Step 1: Check if you meet the requirements to get LTA approval letter (approval usually within a week from my experience)
• To apply for a Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL), you must meet the following requirements:
• 1. Be at least 30 years old at the point of application
• 2. Be a Singapore Citizen
• 3. Have a valid Class 3 or 3A Singapore driving licence for a continuous period of at least 1 year at the point of application
• An applicant with a suspended or disqualified driving licence may be considered after the suspension or disqualification is over
• 4. Be able to speak and read basic English
• Applicants are required to submit documentary proof of ability to speak and read simple English upon application for a TDVL/ PDVL.
- GCE ''O'' Level or ''N'' Level pass in English (at least a D7 grade);
- Level 3 pass in English under the Workplace Literacy (WPL) programme;
If you are unable to meet the above requirements, you are required to pass the WPL-Computer Adaptive Test (WPL-CAT). The fee for this test is $10.50 (excluding GST).
• 5. Have up-to-date MediSave contributions (if you are self-employed)
• 6. Have a clean criminal record
• An applicant who committed any serious offences such as rape, murder or kidnapping will not be considered
• Applicants who committed less serious offences may be considered after the sentence has been completed. A testimonial from the relevant authority may be requested on a case-by-case basis
• Applicants serving supervision orders may be considered after the supervision order is completed.
• If you submit all the documents accurately, should be approved within a week due to lower volume of application now
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• Step 2: Health examination (chest X ray, eyesight and verbal doctor interview) (3 days wait for chest x ray report for me at SATA CommHealth)
• It is possible to fail the eyesight test if you don’t bring your glasses/spectacles
• You need 6/12 minimum for both eyes to pass the eyesight test
• For the verbal doctor interview, just say that you are okay for all the questions if you are truly okay, otherwise you can tell the doctor truthfully your issues but it will result in more complications with your application.
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• Step 3: Taking the course (NTUC learning hub) (~2 weeks waiting time)
• For me, I applied for the course at NTUC learning hub Jurong and the waiting time was 2 weeks
•You can use skill future credits to offset the whole course fee, test fee but there is still an admin fee ($27 for me) that you will need to pay to NTUC learning hub
• For the course, just go there and sit from 9am to 6pm, wear appropriate attire, collared shirt and long pants with covered shoes. Bring your IC as well to scan for attendance.
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• Step 4: Preparing and taking the test (at least 1 week wait)
• For me, I used these 2 websites to prepare for the test
• But I will say that these 2 websites are ~90% accurate with the answers, due to revision of the laws and requirements but still serves at good practice because there are no other better options.
• The practice questions from these 2 websites are technically more difficult than what you will experience at the real test itself.
• The real test (What is it about?) and the method to do the test
• The appropriate attire is collared shirt, long pants with covered shoes and bring your IC, LTA approval letter (email also can)
• Paper A, consists 20 morally correct questions, 17/20 to pass (4 options)
• There will be 3 very wrong answer and 1 correct answer, so just read carefully and choose which makes the most sense and your command and understanding of English is important for paper A.
• The method to do the test:
• After you finish paper A, aka finishing the 20 questions, go back to the 1st question and look through your answers & count how many questions that you are 100% confident that you will get correct
• Based on this counting, you will know if you can pass, like for me, I counted that I have 18 questions that I confirmed + chop that I will get them correct with 2 questions which I am not 100% sure.
• If you have less than 17/20 questions that you are 100% sure, then think through the questions that you are unsure again and don’t give up. Try to eliminate the wrong answers and pick the most logically / morally right answer.
• Once done, go back to the 1st question for a 2nd time, this time, make sure you clicked / checked the right option for all the questions again and double check all your answers once more
• After you are done, you would have gone through the questions 3 times now and it’s time to click submit and hope you passed.
• Paper B, consists of 40 questions, 34/40 to pass (4 options) :
• Around 20+ questions will be on the fines, demerit points questions etc. For these questions, no penalty, jail, jail and caning are usually the wrong answers, the correct answers are either fine or fine + demerit point.
• For changing of decal, it’s 3 calendar days to do so.
• Method to do the test:
• Same thing as paper A, after you finish answering all 40 questions, go back to question 1 and count how many questions are you 100% sure that it’s correct. If it’s less than 34/40, think through the questions that you are unsure of and try to eliminate the wrong answers.
• Like for me, I had 39 questions that I was 100% sure of the answers so I know passing should be okay.
• Once done, go back to question 1 a 2nd time to double check the answers again and make sure that you clicked the right option, the answer that you desired, because sometimes, you might get the answer wrong not because you don’t know the answer but you clicked the wrong option.
• Paper C, consists of 15 question, 12/15 to pass (4 options for normal questions, 3 options for identify the shortest route questions):
• First 5 questions are knowledge-related questions, 6th and 7th question is locate the nearest X (park, school, taxi stand etc) from a location, remaining 8 questions are identify the shortest distance route questions.
• The tip for these questions is to always choose the longest answers but from my experience, after I finished the test, I checked all the answers and out of the 8 questions, there were 2 questions with similarly long correct answer while one question, the correct answer was the middle length answer.
• Hence, personally, I find it very risky to just choose the longest answer for all the questions. I recommend to do it the hard way if you can.
• What I do is to use onemap for all the identify the shortest route questions and do it the hard way.
• My recommended method to do these questions fast is to not look at and check the options 1 by 1 but try to look at the options and find the difference between the options. For example, option A and B might have the first 4 street names similar and we try to go straight to the 5th street name and check on onemap to see which is the correct answer. The common mistake is to check the option 1 by 1 with onemap answer and this will result in that you will take very long for one question.
•If you really cannot finish the test on time (by the 25th min), then try to choose the longest option/answer.
• For me I got 19/20 for paper A, 100% for both paper B and C so it is not a bad idea to try these methods if you have issues passing the tests.
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• Step 5: Getting your car (5 options, including but not limited to)
• Renting a car
• Buying a second hand old car (below 15,000 SGD, with COE ending) low capital
• Buying a second hand car (above 50,000 SGD) high capital
• Buying a new car
• Using your own car
• To compare the 5 options and which to choose, there are 3 key questions here:
• Are you ready yet to commit to being a long term PHV driver, if you are not, then you may consider renting a car for 1-2 months first to try out before deciding to buy a car or rent long term :)
• What is the capital that you have? (if you decide to buy a car)
• Which gives the lowest cost per day (in terms of daily rental costs vs daily car cost (bought))
• What is the capital that you have?
• If your capital is 0 dollars, meaning you don’t have any capital to start with, your only choice is to rent a car, which may be the most expensive option.
• If your capital is below 15,000 SGD, then you can buy a second hand old car with COE ending soon, like in ~6-12 months
• The drawbacks are :
• High engine oil consumption, every 3,000 to 4,000 km, you might need to refill engine oil.
• Low engine power, meaning accelerates slow like an old horse
• Weak battery, air conditioning not cold enough
• Higher cost per day as compared to buying a more expensive 2nd hand car, with later COE expiry date
• The advantages are:
• Lower capital invested, more free flow cash
• Can stop in few months and dispose of the car when COE expires if you don’t feel good about being a private hire driver
• You get the full experience of buying a car, converting it to private hire and disposing of a COE expired car.
• Buying a new car / Using your own car:
• Personally, if you are starting out new as a PHV driver, it is not advisable to buy a new car for the sole purpose of becoming a PHV driver unless you are financially rich
• If you are using your own car, convert your car to a PHV car online via www.onemotoring.lta.gov.sg > Digital Services > Convert Vehicle Type or Scheme and complete the conversion, where a $100 administrative fee will be charged. Then visit any VICOM, JIC or STA inspection centre to secure a PHV decal. It will cost ~S$22.
Also check with your car loan provider and insurance provider if your loan or insurance policy may be affected as PHV converted cars are classified under Z10/Z11 classification by LTA.
• Renting Car - if you choose to rent a car, there are a few factors to look at, including but not limited to:
• You will need to consider a few factors – Contract term, Rental Cost, Fuel efficiency & Fuel Costs and striking a balance between these factors
• Mileage Car (used car) / Brand new rental car – brand new rental car usually comes with higher rental costs and if you are starting out as a new PHV driver, you may want to try renting a mileage car (used car) with lower rental costs first.
• Petrol / Hybrid / Electric Vehicle (EV) – besides rental costs, you may compare the fuel efficiency of the different types of vehicles, based on the km/litre calculations.
The higher the km/litre fuel calculations the better, because that means that you need to pay less to travel the same distance per litre of fuel, and thus, making more income; however, there is also a need to strike a balance between rental costs vs fuel efficiency.
Renting a car with higher fuel efficiency will lower the refuelling costs, minimizing the times you need to refuel per week, saving your time and thus, enhancing the overall efficiency of your work as a PHV driver and increasing your profits.
• 4 seater vs 6 seater PHV car, the main differences are the rental costs and the types of rides that you may carry out on the ride-hailing APP.
A 6 seater PHV car will be able to do 4 seater, 6 seater, and premium rides that is likely to give you higher average fares while a 4 seater car can only do 4 seater ride BUT if you are starting out new as a PHV driver, you may want to try out renting PHV cars with a cheaper rental cost first instead.
• Lastly, if you are starting out new as a PHV driver, you may want to start with renting cars with a shorter contract term to try out first, before committing to a long term contract despite that a rental car with a longer contract term may come with cheaper rents.
*It is advisable to familiarize yourself with the experience of being a PHV driver first
*Because if you rent a long term contract PHV car and in the end, you find yourself unable to acclimatize / accustom / adapt yourself to the lifestyle of a PHV driver, possibly due to long working hours or other reasons etc. You may end up with a lot of your financial capital being stuck in the contract.
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• After getting your PHV car, knowing how to maintain your PHV car is also very important.
• A well maintained PHV car will help you to maintain high APP ratings, eventually enabling you to be able to generate more PHV income :)
• Maintaining your car:
• What you need to put in your car (plastic bag for passenger vomiting, box of tissue, air refreshener etc.)
• Engine oil (keep in boot of car)
• Water (for coolant reservoir tank)
• Cleaning your car (using a hand held vacuum cleaner etc.)
• Servicing your car (finding a cheap & reliable car garage to service your car, not necessary if it’s a rented car because servicing is included in most car rental contracts)
• Battery – make sure that your car headlights are not left on after you parked your car. Do not leave your air-con on when your car ignition switch is on accessory mode, because it will drain your battery to dead.
• Tyres - Proper inflation pressure is necessary in giving you the best tire performance, safety, and fuel economy. Regular maintenance, such as keeping your tyres properly inflated is essential for your own safety and the safety of your passengers :)
Remember to occasionally (at least once a month) check your tyres tread wear, and damage by touching the grooves around their part-worn tyres and check. The grooves should be at least 1.6mm deep (this is the minimum tread depth), legally required by LTA.
• Road Tax – Ensuring that your road tax is always paid on time (may not be necessary if it is a rented car as road tax is usually paid by car rental company)
• PHV Insurance – Remember to purchase the PHV/commercial car insurance.
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• Step 6: Registering on your desired private hire, ride hailing APP / platform (approval usually within 48 hours)
• Starting work - Choosing app
• Grab (Up t0 20% commission fee, variable commission rate based on distance from/ time to reach pickup point) (29%-31% petrol discount)
• Gojek (Up to 10% commission fee) (Up to 36% petrol discount)
• Tada (flat platform/driver fee, 0% commission)
• Ryde (flat platform/service fee, 0% commission)
• Incentive targets vs Recreational / Relaxed PHV driver lifestyle:
• Drive Tada/Ryde first, to familiarize yourself before going for incentive based app for new joiner incentives/normal incentives
• Also, it is necessary to learn to provide good customer service to your passengers first, so as to be able to maintain good personal app ratings from passengers, and acceptance/cancellation rates, because the ratings may drop too low if you go to incentive-based apps (grab/gojek etc.) without any prior experience. This may in turn affect your earnings / income negatively.
• Documents needed:
• Grab (Vocational License, Bank Account Details, Driver License, Identity Card, Car Commercial Insurance, Profile Picture, Vehicle Information, Emergency Contact, Email address)
• Gojek (Profile pic, IC, driving license, bank statement, vehicle image, LTA vehicle log card, PDVL, PHV vehicle decal, commercial insurance, rental agreement (optional))
• Tada (IC, driving license, PDVL, profile picture, vehicle ownership status, commercial insurance cert, car model, vehicle inspection status, banking details)
• Ryde (IC, LTA vehicle log, driving license, profile picture, personal details, vehicle details, vocational license, PHV decal, commercial insurance, letter of employment (non Singaporean))
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