An LTA fine in Singapore can be a $10 administrative fee or a $20,000 court charge, and 2026 is the year several of those numbers jumped. Speeding composition fines rose on 1 January, illegal-modification penalties were raised to $20,000 on 27 February, and from 1 June it became an offence just to keep a non-UL2272 e-scooter at home. Most drivers only meet the Land Transport Authority through the cheap end of that range, an expired road tax or a coupon mistake, and those usually settle for under $100 if you act fast. The expensive end starts the moment a real safety rule is broken. This guide lists what each common offence costs in 2026, which rules changed, and how to keep a small slip from becoming a court date.
The Land Transport Authority enforces vehicle and road rules: road tax, vehicle registration, illegal modifications, ERP, off-peak car conditions, and active mobility (PMDs and e-scooters). Most LTA fines arrive as a composition offer, a fixed sum you pay to settle the matter without going to court. Pay it and the case closes.
Two things are often confused with an LTA fine. Speeding and red-light camera offences are issued by the Traffic Police (SPF), not LTA, and they carry demerit points on top of the dollar amount. Parking fines in public car parks usually come from URA or HDB, not LTA. The penalties still hit your wallet the same way, so this guide covers all three enforcers under the umbrella most people search for. Our guide to parking fines in Singapore breaks down the URA and HDB side in full.
The line that matters: composition offences settle for a fixed fee, but the serious ones (illegal modification, using an unregistered vehicle, tampering with an OBU) carry no composition, they go straight to prosecution with five-figure fines and possible jail.
These are the offences most owners actually run into. The cost is small if you fix it within a month, and it climbs the longer you leave it.
Letting road tax lapse is the classic one. There is no fine for renewing a few days late, only a late-renewal fee that scales with how overdue you are and your engine size. Driving a vehicle whose road tax has expired is a separate, more serious matter, an offence that carries a fine of up to $2,000.
| How overdue | Up to 1,000cc | 1,001-1,600cc | 3,001cc and above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within 1 month | $10 | $20 | $50 |
| 1 to 2.5 months | $60 | $70 | $100 |
| More than 2.5 months | $80 | $90 | $120 |
| More than 3 months | $230 | $240 | $270 |
Once road tax is more than three months overdue, the fee jumps to a flat $230 or more and your vehicle can be subject to additional enforcement. At that point a $10 oversight has become a $230 one for the same car. Renew the moment you get the reminder. Road tax sits inside the broader running cost of a car, which we map out in the Singapore road tax guide.
Speeding is the most common way drivers pick up both a fine and demerit points, and the composition amounts went up across the board on 1 January 2026. Heavy vehicles (maximum laden weight above 3.5 tonnes) carry higher fines than cars and motorcycles for the same excess speed. The table below shows the post-1-January figures for a light vehicle.
Anything past 40km/h over the limit is not a composition offence at all, it goes to court, and accumulating more than 24 demerit points means licence suspension. New licence holders are on a one-year probation and lose the licence at 13 points.
| Excess over limit | Fine | Demerit points |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 20 km/h | $200 | 6 |
| 21 to 30 km/h | $300 | 8 |
| 31 to 40 km/h | $400 | 12 |
| 41 km/h and above | Court prosecution | Court decides |
Public car-park fines come from URA or HDB and start low. The trap is that they multiply with how serious the breach is, and they rise if you ignore the notice. A clean coupon mistake is cheap; parking on a reserved or handicap lot is not.
Note that an expired parking session, the most common slip, can settle for as little as $4 to $8 for a car if you are under 30 minutes over. The figures below are the starting composition amounts for a car.
| Offence | Car fine |
|---|---|
| Parking without a valid coupon or digital session | $40 |
| Expired session, up to 30 minutes over | $4 to $8 |
| Parking other than in a marked lot | $70 |
| Parking across lot boundaries | $70 |
| Using a reserved or handicap lot without authority | $70 to $200 |
This is where 2026 changed the most. Several penalties that used to be modest were raised sharply to deter unsafe vehicles, and these are not composition offences, they carry prosecution and potential jail.
Illegal modification is the headline change. From 27 February 2026, altering a vehicle outside what the rules allow carries a fine of up to $20,000 and up to two years' jail for an individual, with penalties doubled for repeat offenders. A company faces up to $40,000 first time and up to $80,000 if it reoffends. Workshops are on the hook too, so a back-alley exhaust swap now risks both you and the shop.
Keeping or using an unregistered or deregistered vehicle was raised to the same level on 27 February 2026: up to $20,000 and up to two years' jail, doubled for repeat offenders. Speed-limiter tampering jumped from $1,000 to $10,000 for a first offence and to $20,000 for repeats.
Companies caught modifying vehicles illegally face up to $40,000 on a first offence and up to $80,000 for a repeat. If you are buying a used car, check the modification status before you commit, because some of these fines can attach to the owner. The true cost of car ownership in Singapore is already steep without adding a five-figure penalty.
| Offence | First offence (individual) | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Illegal vehicle modification | Up to $20,000 and/or 2 years' jail | 27 Feb 2026 |
| Keeping/using an unregistered or deregistered vehicle | Up to $20,000 and/or 2 years' jail | 27 Feb 2026 |
| Speed-limiter tampering | Up to $10,000 | 2026 |
| Tampering with or modifying an OBU (ERP2) | Up to $20,000 and/or 12 months' jail | 1 Jan 2027 |
The On-Board Unit (OBU) replaces the old in-vehicle ERP unit. Installation is being phased in, and the related fines mostly bite from 1 January 2027, but the dates and amounts are set, so it pays to plan. Tampering with or running unauthorised OBU services carries a fine of up to $20,000 and up to 12 months' jail.
On the routine side, missing an ERP charge because of a non-working OBU will attract a $10 administrative fee from 1 January 2027, and a flat daily ERP rate applies if your unit is not functioning: $3 a day for motorcycles, $10 a day for other vehicles. OBU installation itself is a one-off fee, $35 for motorcycles and $70 for other vehicles. How ERP charging works gantry by gantry is covered in the ERP rates and gantries guide.
Active mobility rules tightened on 1 June 2026, and the change catches people who do not even own a car. From that date it is an offence simply to keep a non-UL2272-certified e-scooter, a fire-safety rule. A first-time individual offender faces a fine of up to $2,000 and up to three months' jail; any other case (such as a business) faces up to $4,000.
Riding a non-compliant motorised PMD on public paths remains the heavier offence: first-time offenders can face a fine of up to $10,000 and up to six months' jail. Personal mobility aids (the mobility scooters used by some elderly and disabled users) face a 6km/h speed cap from 1 June 2026, with registration required from 2029.
The pattern across every category is the same: cost rises with delay and with severity. A coupon slip or a late road tax is a rounding error if you handle it within a month. The five-figure penalties only appear once a genuine safety rule is broken, which is the part fully inside your control.
Check your demerit balance before it bites. You can look it up through the Traffic Police, and if you are near the threshold, drive accordingly until points expire. If you believe a fine is wrong, the issuing body (LTA, URA, HDB or SPF) has an appeal channel, and a reasonable first-time appeal is sometimes accepted.
Renewing late only triggers an administrative fee, from $10 within a month up to $230 or more after three months overdue for a private car. Actually using a vehicle whose road tax has expired is a separate offence that carries a fine of up to $2,000.
Yes. From 1 January 2026 composition fines and demerit points rose across all bands. A light vehicle up to 20km/h over now pays $200 and six demerit points, and 31 to 40km/h over costs $400 and twelve points. Exceeding 40km/h goes to court.
From 27 February 2026 an individual faces a fine of up to $20,000 and up to two years' jail, doubled for repeat offenders. A company faces up to $40,000 on a first offence and up to $80,000 if it reoffends. This is a court matter, not a composition fine.
From 1 June 2026 it is an offence to keep a non-UL2272-certified e-scooter, even at home, as a fire-safety measure. A first-time individual offender faces a fine of up to $2,000 and up to three months' jail. UL2272-certified devices are not affected.
Yes. Composition fines from LTA, URA, HDB or the Traffic Police each have an online appeal channel. Submit your appeal before the payment deadline, explain the circumstances clearly, and a reasonable first-time appeal is sometimes accepted, though there is no guarantee.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.