Autobahn Rent A Car charged with keeping two deregistered vehicles

SINGAPORE – Embattled car-rental company Autobahn Rent A Car has been read four charges in relation to deregistered cars under its ownership.

According to documents seen by The Business Times on Sept 22, the offences relate to two cars, with two charges per vehicle.

One charge is over keeping a vehicle after its registration was cancelled, and another is the charge of failing to provide proof that the vehicles had been exported or scrapped within a month of the cancellation date.

One car, registered as SLA7909K, had its registration cancelled on March 16, 2026, with the date of the offences noted as April 17.

While the make and model of the cars were not mentioned, a separate Housing & Development Board notice in the Government Gazette dated July 31 stated that a silver Toyota with the registration SLA7909K was found abandoned, subsequently detained, and would be disposed of one month from the date of the Gazette.

The other car, registered as SKZ4586H, had its registration cancelled on Jan 21, with the date of the offences listed as taking place on Feb 22.

According to the Singapore Courts website, the case was heard by District Judge Shawn Ho on Sept 17, with a subsequent further mention involving the Land Transport Authority scheduled for Oct 13.

Keeping or using an unregistered vehicle carries a penalty of up to S$20,000 fine or two years in prison, while a second or subsequent conviction doubles that.

Under the Road Traffic Act, if a vehicle’s registration has been cancelled by the registrar, the owner must provide proof that the vehicle has been removed from all roads in Singapore, or has been destroyed or removed from the country within one month of the cancellation.

Those who fail to do so can be fined up to S$2,000 or imprisoned for up to three months, while a second or subsequent offence carries a fine of up to S$5,000 or a jail term of up to six months.

The private-hire and car-rental sectors were shaken by the Autobahn affair, which involved the downfall of the prominent industry player.

In late 2025, Autobahn Rent A Car and its related companies were revealed to be S$300 million in debt to creditors including DBS, OCBC, UOB, automotive financing companies and dealers.

The controllers of the companies, Roy Tan and Sanjay Kumar Rai, were charged with forging receipts to car dealers Komoco Motors and Borneo Motors in January and declared bankrupt in April. THE BUSINESS TIMES