Grab has introduced the Grab Enforcement Team, where enforcement officers ensure Grab drivers display the proper PHV decals and have their PDVL or concession letter.

Grab today (July 3) announced it has formed a team of enforcement officers to ensure its driver-partners have the correct licenses.

Called the Grab Enforcement Team (GET), the "small team" of enforcement officers, who have several years' experience working in law enforcement and security, will be riding "Grab-branded" motorcycles and cars around the island.

Their job is to ensure that all Grab driver-partners display the proper serialised tamper-evident decals, and that they are carrying their PDVL (Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence) or concession letter, and checking that they comply to the GrabCar Driver Code of Conduct.

The Land Transport Authority said last Thursday that private-hire car drivers who fail to display a licence or special decals on their windscreens may have their license revoked, and will face a fine or even jail time.

Any tampering, including defacement, altering, covering or obscuring of the decals is an offence under the Road Traffic Act. First time offenders may face a fine of up to $1,000, or a jail term not exceeding 3 months, or both, while repeat offenders may face a fine not exceeding $2,000 or a jail term not exceeding 6 months, or both. Offenders may also have their PDVL revoked.

GET officers can identify Grab drivers by their vehicle numbers, and can instantly check them against Grab's database to ensure that vehicles and drivers are licensed. Unlicensed vehicles and drivers will have their account suspended and be investigated.

A Grab spokesman told The New Paper: "Grab believes that proactive enforcement on our part is necessary to protect driver-partners on our platform, and prevent against any breach to the Road Traffic Act that can lead to a fine, imprisonment and / or PDVL suspension by the authorities."

TNP understands Uber does not have an enforcement team.

Photos of the "Grab-branded" motorbikes went viral on social media over the weekend, fuelling rumours of the launch of bike-hailing service, GrabBike, in Singapore.

The spokesman added there are no plans to launch GrabBike in Singapore.

"We launch the services that are relevant to each market. Singaporeans don't have a preference or habit to take bikes, as compared to say in Jakarta, where ojeks, a motorcycle taxi, are a common mode of transport - for speed, convenience, cost," she said.