Demerit points
Three different Singapore registers are called “demerit points”, and only one of them is this page. The Driver Improvement Points System applies to ordinary driving licences under the Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules. Points are awarded on conviction — and also on paying a composition, which is the sentence that surprises most readers.
THREE REGISTERS SHARE THESE WORDS
- Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS)R25 — ordinary driving licencesThis page
- The scheme this page is about. Points are awarded on conviction and also on paying a composition; enough of them inside the window and the licence is liable to suspension.
- Vocational licence pointsS 365/2017 — made by the Land Transport Authority
- A separate register for taxi and private-hire drivers, with its own catalogue, its own window anchor and its own suspension bands. Same words, different scheme, different authority.
- Workplace demerit pointsMinistry of Manpower — a different Act
- Not about driving at all. It is out of scope for this site and is named here only because it ranks on the same search, so a reader who arrived for it knows immediately that this is not it.
WHEN POINTS ARE AWARDED
Paying a composition does not keep your record clean
This is the single most misunderstood thing about the scheme, and it is one rule with two limbs.
CONSEQUENCE
Points on conviction OR on paying a composition
“Where a licence holder — (a) is convicted of a scheduled offence; or (b) pays a sum of money to compound a scheduled offence he is reasonably suspected to have committed, the Deputy Commissioner of Police shall award against that holder the demerit points specified in the Schedule for that scheduled offence.”
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25), r.3(1)
Read that rule slowly, because almost everything readers believe about this scheme comes apart on it. Points are awarded when a person is convicted of a scheduled offence, and they are awarded when a person pays a composition for one. The two limbs sit in the same sentence, joined by an “or”. There is no version of paying that keeps the record clean, and there is no discretion in the base award: the rule says the points shall be awarded, not that they may be.
That has a second consequence worth stating plainly. Because a composition is offered without any court appearance and often without much explanation, it is easy to treat it as the end of the matter. It ends the prosecution — the Act says as much — but it starts the clock on this register, and a compounded offence can also be taken into account later as an aggravating factor if a court comes to sentence you for something else. A driver who pays several compositions in quick succession without noticing the points is the exact case the suspension thresholds below are built to catch.
What the schedule is, and what it is not
The schedule is a closed list. If an offence is not in it, no demerit points arise from that offence, however serious it is — the points scheme and the penalty scheme are separate machines running off the same event. Each live slot names the offence, the provision that creates it, and the points it carries; where the points depend on how far over a limit the driver was, the slot carries its own band table rather than a single figure.
DEMERIT POINTS
The Schedule, in full
42 live slots of 46 numbered ones. The deleted slots stay in position: an omitted slot and a repealed one look identical from outside, and only one of them is a fact.
| Item | Offence | Points | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1(a) | Exceeding speed limit for vehicle — by more than 0 but not more than 20 km/h | 6 | Section 63(1) of the Act |
| 1(b) | Exceeding speed limit for vehicle — by more than 20 but not more than 30 km/h | 8 | Section 63(1) of the Act |
| 1(c) | Exceeding speed limit for vehicle — by more than 30 but not more than 40 km/h | 12 | Section 63(1) of the Act |
| 1(d) | Exceeding speed limit for vehicle — by more than 40 but not more than 50 km/h | 18 | Section 63(1) of the Act |
| 1(e) | Exceeding speed limit for vehicle — by more than 50 km/h | 24 | Section 63(1) of the Act |
| 2(a) | Exceeding speed limit on a road — by more than 0 but not more than 20 km/h | 6 | Section 63(4) of the Act |
| 2(b) | Exceeding speed limit on a road — by more than 20 but not more than 30 km/h | 8 | Section 63(4) of the Act |
| 2(c) | Exceeding speed limit on a road — by more than 30 but not more than 40 km/h | 12 | Section 63(4) of the Act |
| 2(d) | Exceeding speed limit on a road — by more than 40 but not more than 50 km/h | 18 | Section 63(4) of the Act |
| 2(e) | Exceeding speed limit on a road — by more than 50 km/h | 24 | Section 63(4) of the Act |
| 3 | Carrying excess pillion or carrying pillion sitting not astride | 3 | Section 73(1) of the Act |
| 4 | Rider failing to wear or wear insecurely on his head a protective helmet | 3 | Section 74(1) of the Act |
| 4A | Rider driving where a pillion is not wearing securely on his or her head a protective helmet | 3 | Section 74(1A) of the Act |
| 5 | Disobeying traffic direction of police officer, employee of Authority or security officer engaged in regulating traffic | 3 | Section 120(1)(a) of the Act |
| 6 | DELETED — S 645/2010 | ||
| 7 | Failing to give way to oncoming traffic at controlled junction | 4 | Rule 8, Road Traffic Rules (R 20) |
| 8 | Failing to give way at uncontrolled junction | 4 | Rule 11(1), Road Traffic Rules |
| 9 | Failing to give way at junction | 4 | Rule 11(2), Road Traffic Rules |
| 10 | Failing to give way at roundabout | 4 | Rule 11(3), Road Traffic Rules |
| 11 | Conveying load not properly secured | 3 | Rule 18, Road Traffic Rules |
| 12 | Crossing double white lines | 4 | Section 120(3) of the Act read with rule 7(1)(m) and (12), Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Rules (R 33) |
| 13 | Crossing road divider | 4 | Rule 9, Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Rules (R 33) |
| 14 | Driving on the shoulder of an expressway | 6 | Rule 8, Road Traffic (Expressway Traffic) Rules (R 23) |
| 15 | Using tyres with ply or cord carcass exposed | 3 | Rule 109(1)(e), Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use) Rules (R 9) |
| 16 | Driver failing to wear seat belt | 3 | Rule 4(1), Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Wearing of Seat Belts) Rules 2011 (G.N. No. S 688/2011) |
| 17 | Obstructing flow of traffic | 4 | Rule 5, Road Traffic Rules (R 20) |
| 18 | Forming up incorrectly when turning left or right | 4 | Rule 7, Road Traffic Rules |
| 19 | Failing to give way to ambulance, fire brigade or police vehicle | 4 | Rule 12(2), Road Traffic Rules |
| 20 | Driving while carrying load on a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner | 4 | Rule 101(4), Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use) Rules |
| 21 | Failing to securely tie or attach goods to a goods vehicle to prevent their falling off from the vehicle | 6 | Rule 101(7), Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use) Rules |
| 22 | DELETED — S 634/2005 | ||
| 23 | Offences committed by motorists at pedestrian crossing | 6 | Rules 4, 5, 6, and 7, Road Traffic (Pedestrian Crossings) Rules (R 24) |
| 24 | Driving or riding against the flow of traffic as indicated by traffic signs | 6 | Section 120(3) of the Act |
| 25 | Driving without due care or reasonable consideration (where hurt is caused) | 9 | Section 65(4) of the Act |
| 26 | Failing to conform to traffic light signals | 12 | Section 120(3) of the Act |
| 27 | Driving without due care or reasonable consideration (where no hurt is caused) | 6 | Section 65(5) of the Act |
| 28 | Carrying passengers on a goods vehicle in a dangerous manner | 9 | Rule 4, Road Traffic (Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles) Rules 2010 (G.N. No. S 663/2010) |
| 29 | Carrying passengers on a motor vehicle or trailer in a dangerous manner | 6 | Rule 101(1), Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use) Rules (R 9) |
| 30 | Reckless or dangerous driving (where hurt is caused) | 24 | Section 64(4) (previously section 64(2B)) of the Act |
| 30A | Reckless or dangerous driving (where no hurt is caused) | 24 | Section 64(5) (previously section 64(2C)) of the Act |
| 31 | Parking abreast of another vehicle | 3 | Rule 10, Road Traffic Rules |
| 32 | Parking within a pedestrian crossing | 3 | Rule 22(e), Road Traffic Rules |
| 33 | Stopping on the shoulder or verge of an expressway | 4 | Rule 8, Road Traffic (Expressway Traffic) Rules (R 23) |
| 34 | Stopping in a zebra controlled area | 3 | Rule 10(1), Road Traffic (Pedestrian Crossings) Rules (R 24) |
| 35 | Driver failing to ensure that every passenger wears a seat belt | 3 | Rule 5, Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Wearing of Seat Belts) Rules 2011 |
| 36 | Using a motor vehicle where a person below 1.35 metres in height is a passenger and is not properly secured by an approved child restraint or a body-restraining seat belt | 3 | Rule 8(1), Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Wearing of Seat Belts) Rules 2011 |
| 37 | DELETED — S 689/2011 | ||
| 38 | DELETED — S 689/2011 | ||
| 39 | Stopping or remaining at rest on the carriage way of expressway | 4 | Rule 6, Road Traffic (Expressway Traffic) Rules |
| 40 | Parking within a Demerit Points No Parking Zone | 3 | Rule 24A, Road Traffic Rules |
| 41 | Stopping within a Demerit Points No Stopping Zone | 3 | Rule 24B, Road Traffic Rules |
| 42 | Use of mobile telephone while driving | 12 | (no bracketed section reference printed for this item — printed as found, contrast every other item) |
| 43 | Reversing unnecessarily along an expressway | 6 | Rule 7, Road Traffic (Expressway Traffic) Rules |
| 44 | Failing to fill up every passenger seat in driver's cabin, or any additional cabin or enclosed space provided for the carriage of passengers or goods and which is adjacent to or is an extension of the cabin for the driver, before carrying any person on the floor of open deck goods vehicle | 3 | Rule 3, Road Traffic (Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles) Rules 2010 |
| 45 | Failing to obey 1.1 metre height restriction for persons carried on open deck goods vehicle | 6 | Rule 5, Road Traffic (Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles) Rules 2010 |
| 46 | Carrying passengers when the clear floor space of the open deck of goods vehicle available for each passenger is insufficient | 6 | Rule 8(2), Road Traffic (Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles) Rules 2010 |
DATED · R25's own latest dated touch: S 808/2025 wef 01/01/2026 (the zone-uplift insertion and the “scheduled offence” definition)
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25), Schedule — THE SCHEDULE, Rule 3(1), “Scheduled Offences” — transcribed in FULL: all 46 numbered slots + 2 lettered insertions (4A, 30A)
HEDGE
The rules cite the Act by a name it no longer has
The subsidiary rules quoted on this site open by citing their parent Act in a citation form that was superseded when the Act was revised and renamed. The references still resolve to the right provisions — but the citation string itself is stale in the publisher’s own text. This site quotes it exactly as found and says so here, rather than silently modernising an instrument’s own words.
- Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25)
- “Chapter 276, Section 45(2)”
- Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29)
- “Chapter 276, Section 135(2)”
- Road Traffic (New Drivers) Rules (R 32)
- “Chapter 276, Section 35A(2)”
The Act those mastheads point at is now cited as Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed). The pointers still resolve to the right provisions; only the citation form is superseded.
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25) · Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29) · Road Traffic (New Drivers) Rules (R 32)
SUSPENSION
Two thresholds, and the second only applies once the first has bitten
The window is anchored to the date of the first award inside it, not to a calendar year.
Two thresholds operate here and they are not two rungs of one ladder. The first is the ordinary one: enough points inside the window and the licence becomes liable to suspension. The second is tighter — fewer points, a shorter window — and it applies only to a driver on whom the first has already bitten. A rule further on switches the tighter threshold off again after a clean period, without saying in terms that the driver returns to the ordinary one, and this site does not resolve what it leaves open.
The window anchor is the part most often misread. It does not run from the date of the offence, and it is not a calendar year. It runs from the date of the first award inside the period being counted, and points awarded before that are disregarded. A separate rule provides for a clean period to clear earlier points altogether, subject to its own stated exception. The consequence is that two drivers with the same number of points can be in entirely different positions depending on when the awards fell.
- First threshold
- 24 points within 24 months — suspension of up to 36 months (r.4(1))
- Second threshold
- 12 points within 12 months — up to 36 months. This applies only once the first has already applied (r.4(2)).
- Window anchor
- only such demerit points shall be taken into account as have been awarded against that person within a total period of 24 consecutive months or 12 consecutive months, as the case may be, calculated from the date of the first award of demerit points within that period and all demerit points awarded before that period shall be disregarded
- Clean-period reset
- 12 clean months disregards earlier points — subject to the exception the rule itself states (r.4(5)/(6)).
DATED · R25's own latest dated touch: S 808/2025 wef 01/01/2026 (the zone-uplift insertion and the “scheduled offence” definition)
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25), r.4(1) — “a total number of 24 or more demerit points”
HEDGE
Does the zone uplift apply to a composition, or only on conviction?
- The base award is mandatory
The rule says points “shall” be awarded, on conviction or on paying a composition.
- The uplift is discretionary
“the Deputy Commissioner of Police MAY award ... 2 demerit points in addition to the demerit points awarded under paragraph (1)”
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25), r.3(1A) — verbatim, “may award” — contrast r.3(1)'s own “shall award” for the base points
INFORMATION
The uplift is 2 points, and it applies to an enumerated subset
“an offence listed in item (1)(a) to (e), (2)(a) to (e), (5), (7), (8), (9), (10), (12), (13), (18), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27) or (42) of the Schedule”
if the offence mentioned in paragraph (1A)(a) is committed ... by a licence holder in a zone that is demarcated as more than one type of the following zones: (a) school zone; (b) silver zone; (c) zone demarcated as “Friendly Streets”, the Deputy Commissioner of Police must not award against the holder concerned more than 2 demerit points under paragraph (1A)
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25), r.3(1A)(a)
NEW DRIVERS — A DIFFERENT MECHANISM
Revocation, not suspension, on a window that does not roll
This is not the demerit points ladder with lower numbers. It is a different consequence measured from a different starting point.
A separate set of rules governs drivers inside their probation period. It borrows the words “demerit points” from the scheme above, and it borrows the awards themselves, but it does two things differently and both matter. The consequence is revocation rather than suspension: a suspended licence comes back at the end of its term, and a revoked one has to be applied for again. And the window is anchored to the date the licence was granted rather than rolling with the offences, so the same points can fall inside it or outside it depending only on when the licence was issued.
The rules also build in a warning stage. A written warning is required at a lower points figure than the revocation threshold, and a driver facing revocation is given a stated period in which to show cause. Neither of those is a discretion this site can predict the exercise of; they are steps the rules require, set out here so that a letter arriving partway through the process is recognisable for what it is.
- Who counts as a new driver
- “new driver” means a person who holds a driving licence for less than one year from the date of the grant of the licence to him under section 35(6) or 36(2)(a)(ii) of the Act, but not under section 36(2)(a)(i) of the Act
- Probation period
- 12 months
- Revocation threshold
- 13 pointswithin 12 months — the licence is revoked, not suspended.
- Window anchor
- within a period of 12 months from the date of the grant of the licence to him
- Written warning at
- 6 points
- Time to show cause
- 14 days
DATED · R32 r.3 carries no amendment marker of its own in this corpus — floored to the Rules' own original commencement, printed in the masthead: “[27th April 1990]”
Road Traffic (New Drivers) Rules (R 32), r.3(1) — “a Deputy Commissioner of Police may revoke the driving licence of a new driver who has been awarded with 13 or more demerit points within a period of 12 months from the date of the grant of the licence to him”
VOCATIONAL LICENCE POINTS
The second register — a different scheme under a different authority
Taxi and private-hire drivers are under a points scheme made by the Land Transport Authority, with its own catalogue and its own anchor.
| Offence | Points | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Using, causing or permitting a motor vehicle to be used as a chauffeured private hire car or taxi when there is no public service vehicle licence authorising such use | 21 | Section 101(1) RTA — Part 1 item 1 |
| Driving chauffeured private hire car or taxi whilst vocational licence is suspended | 21 | Section 110(1) RTA — Part 1 item 4 |
| Using, wearing or having in his or her possession the vocational licence of another person | 5 | Rule 20 PSVC — Part 1 item 6 |
| Obstructing Registrar or authorised officer in the exercise of his or her power and duty to examine chauffeured private hire car or taxi | 3 | Rule 12(2) PSV — Part 1 item 10 |
| Loitering for the purpose of soliciting for passengers (chauffeured private hire car) | 12 | Rule 22A(1) PSVC — Part 2 item 1 |
| Tampering with, adjusting, altering or modifying taximeter or any part thereof | 21 | Rule 21(2) PSV — Part 3 item 3 |
| Refusing, without reasonable excuse, to hire out taxi or to convey passenger | 6 | Rule 25 PSVC — Part 3 item 10 |
| Demanding from taxi passenger taxi fare inconsistent with any part of taxi fare pricing policy for taxi service | 3 | Section 23(2)(a) read with section 23(4) PTCA as in force before 30 October 2020 — Part 3 item 13 |
DATED · the Rules' own stated commencement: “come into operation on 1 July 2017” (r.1)
Road Traffic (Chauffeured Private Hire Car and Taxi Vocational Licence Demerit Points System) Rules 2017 (S 365/2017), First Schedule — 8 of 66 rows across Parts 1-3, spanning every distinct points value: 3/5/6/12/21
HEDGE
A different window anchor again
any period of 24 months ending on the date of the latest commission or alleged commission of a scheduled offence within that period
Road Traffic (Chauffeured Private Hire Car and Taxi Vocational Licence Demerit Points System) Rules 2017 (S 365/2017), r.4(4)
WHAT THE LAW DOES NOT SAY
Points are not money, anywhere in this corpus
NOT IN THE LAW
A demerit point is not worth an amount of money
Nothing in the Singapore instruments this site reads converts demerit points into money. Demerit points under the Driver Improvement Points System, the separate vocational licence points, and a new driver’s revocation are all purely non-monetary: they lead to suspension, prohibition or revocation of a licence, never to a larger fine. Several other countries do price points in money, so if you have arrived expecting a conversion, the absence is the answer rather than a gap.
Road Traffic (Driver Improvement Points System) Rules (R 25), whole instrument — no monetary conversion of points anywhere · Road Traffic (Chauffeured Private Hire Car and Taxi Vocational Licence Demerit Points System) Rules 2017 (S 365/2017), whole instrument — same