Singapore U-turns to allow Ez-link card for public transport payments beyond June 1

Singapore’s planned full adoption of SimplyGo for adult public transport fares will be postponed from the original June 1 date as the authorities try to iron out concerns raised by commuters, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Monday.

Separately, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the government will spend S$40 million (US$29.8 million) to extend the use of Ez-link cards and Nets FlashPay cards for adult commuters, and not to “sunset” the system in 2024 as originally planned.

The postponement comes less than two weeks after LTA announced that Nets FlashPay and Ez-link non-concession adult cards – known as card-based ticketing cards – that have not been upgraded to SimplyGo will not be accepted for public transport payments from June 1.

No time frame was given for how long the postponement would last.

Today understands that the additional S$40 million will be spent on upgrading ageing hardware and maintaining the current transport payment system option.

Commuters who had bought or converted their old Ez-link cards to SimplyGo cards in the past two weeks can also exchange it for their original card, free of charge, LTA said.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Chee said one concern raised by commuters about SimplyGo is that they would no longer be able to see their stored-value card balance and fare deduction at MRT fare gates and bus card-readers.

Another concern was the delays that commuters faced when they tried to upgrade their current EZ-link cards to SimplyGo compatible cards over the past two weeks.

“I apologise on behalf of MOT and LTA for the delays commuters experienced when they tried to convert their existing Ez-link cards,” Chee said in his post. “This could have been avoided with better preparation.”

He added