Man Who Provided Carpooling Service During Circuit Breaker Jailed for 3 Days

Remember last year when Circuit Breaker happened and most of us are stuck at home, unable to do anything non-essential, including providing carpooling services? Like the obedient citizens most of us are, we just stayed at home and obey the law.

However, there are some people who simply had to stretch the boundaries and now they’re paying for it.

Man Who Provided Carpooling Service During Circuit Breaker Jailed for 3 Days

52-year-old Juhari Supari made a bad decision last year which led him to his current sentence.

It all started when Juhari decided to join a Telegram group “SG Hitch”. That group has since been renamed, “COVID-19 Lockdown SGHitch”.

Joining the Telegram group was not a problem but posting in the group chat and carrying out the illegal action is.

On 22 Apr 2020, Juhari decided to earn some money since he was going to fetch his wife. At about 2.55pm, he posted a message in the Telegram group chat looking for passengers who are willing to be picked up at Compassvale and drop-off at Thomson Medical Centre.

A passenger by the name of “Decha” responded to his post about an hour and 20 minutes later. They agreed to ferry the passenger from Blk 447A Fernvale Road to Novena Square for a fare of S$7.

At 5.20pm, two male passengers boarded Juhari’s car and paid their fare in cash.

Five minutes after they boarded, the LTA officers stopped his car around Yio Chu Kang Road.

Juhari told the passengers to tell the LTA officers they were friends but when asked for their names, he can’t answer the question. What sort of friend forgets their friends’ name?

Finally, Juhari admitted to the LTA officers the passengers were not his friends and they were being ferried to Novena Square in exchange for a fare.

Punishment

Juhari pleaded guilty to all three charges including using a car without a valid public service vehicle license and illegally leaving his home to provide the carpooling service during Circuit Breaker.

He was sentenced behind bars for three days, fined S$1,800 and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for a year.

It was not disclosed what happened to the two passengers.

First-time offenders of an offence under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to S$10,000.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to S$20,000 and thrown behind bars for up to a year.

Previously, another man was given a similar sentence; you can read more about that offence here.

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