The Government Announces Support Package to Help Workers and Businesses

With the reversion to Phase Two (Heightened Alert) from 22 July 2021 to 18 August 2021, the Government will be providing a support package to help cushion the impact on workers and businesses.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) made the announcement on 23 July 2021.

The support package is expected to cost $1.1 billion and will include enhancements to the Jobs Support Scheme for affected sectors, rental relief for commercial properties, COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund for taxi and private hire car drivers, support for market and hawker centre stallholders, and the COVID-19 Recovery Grant-Temporary.

The package will be funded by reallocation of funds earlier set aside in the event of extension of support measures.

Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme

The Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) will be enhanced to 60 per cent for affected sectors where the tightened measures require them to suspend many, if not all, of their activities.

The sectors include F&B businesses, gyms, fitness studios, performing arts organisations and arts education centres.

MOF will also enhance JSS support to 40 per cent for sectors that are significantly affected by the restrictions.

These include the retail sector, affected personal care services, tourist attractions, licensed hotels, cruise and regional ferry operators, MICE organisers, travel agents, museums, art galleries, cinema operators and other family entertainment centres.

JSS support for all these sectors will taper to 10 per cent from 19–31 August 2021.

Commercial Properties Rental Relief

An additional four-week rental waiver will be provided for qualifying tenants on government-owned commercial properties through the Rental Support Scheme (RSS).

For qualifying tenant-occupiers and owner-occupiers of privately-owned commercial properties, an additional two-week rental relief cash payout will be provided under the RSS.

MOF said that the rental relief will help offset rent for the full duration of the heightened alert for government-owned commercial properties, and half the duration of the heightened alert for privately owned commercial properties.

More details of the RSS can be found on the Inland Revenue Authority Singapore (IRAS) website.

In the press release, MOF said that while the Government has encouraged landlords of commercial properties to provide rental support to affected businesses during the last heightened alert, many tenants have provided feedback that not all landlords were forthcoming.

The ministry said: “To ensure fair burden-sharing, the Government is looking to require sharing of rental obligations between the Government, landlords and qualifying tenants. We recognise that there will be landlords who may face genuine hardship and will take these landlords’ circumstances into consideration.”

The Ministry of Law will provide more details in due course.

Food Delivery Booster Package (Extension)

To support the F&B sector, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) will reintroduce the Food Delivery Booster Package to defray part of food delivery costs via food delivery platforms and third-party logistics partners for transactions made during the heightened alert period.

For the use of food delivery platforms, ESG will fund five percentage points of the commission cost charged and fund 20 per cent of the delivery costs for food delivery orders through third-party logistics partners.

E-Commerce Booster Package

ESG will provide grant support for local retailers to get on-board local e-commerce platforms through the E-commerce Booster Package.

The package, which was reintroduced on 16 May 2021, will be available until 16 November 2021.

Retailers will receive a one-time 80 per cent support on qualifying costs for the service fees charged by the platforms. The support amount will be capped at $8,000.

These platforms include Lazada, Mummy’s Market, Qoo10, Shopee and Zalora.

More details on the Food Delivery and E-Commerce Booster Packages can be found on the ESG website.

Credit Support Measures Remain Available

Facilitated by the ESG, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and industry support measures - banks and finance companies will continue to provide cash flow assistance to borrowers affected by the tightening of restrictions.

Lenders will further offer relief and restructuring options for borrowers based on their specific circumstances.

Enhanced COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund

To support taxi and private hire car drivers, the Government will enhance the COVID-19 Driver Relief Fund (CDRF) from 22 July to end-September 2021.

The CDRF currently provides eligible drivers with $10 per vehicle per day for 60 days from July 2021, and $5 per vehicle per day for the next 30 days.

With the enhancement, eligible drivers will receive an additional $10 per vehicle per day from 22 July to 31 August 2021, and an additional $5 per vehicle per day in September 2021.

Taking to Facebook, NTUC Director Yeo Wan Ling said that this enhancement was timely as support is much needed to provide drivers with some relief.

In her post, Ms Yeo – who is also an advisor to the National Taxi Association (NTA) and National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) – took the opportunity to remind drivers who have been issued with MOH-issued Quarantine Orders to tap on the NTA and NPHVA’s short-term relief fund for additional financial support.

She said: “Here at the Labour Movement, we will continue to work closely with the relevant agencies and P2P partners to look at how we can further help our driving community tide through this difficult time and emerge stronger together.”

Market and Hawker Centre Relief Fund

The Government will introduce a new Market and Hawker Centre Relief Fund to support hawkers and market stallholders further.

All individual stallholders of cooked food and market stalls in centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA-appointed operators will receive one-off cash assistance of $500 per stallholder.

NEA will be providing more details soon.

COVID-19 Recovery Grant-Temporary

To help other affected workers during this period, the Government will also make the CRG-Temporary (CRG-T) available until 31 August 2021.

The CRG-T provides a payout of up to $700 for those who were placed on involuntary no-pay leave, and up to $500 for those who lost at least 50 per cent of their income for at least one month due to tightened safe management measures since 16 May 2021.

Existing CRG-T recipients who continue to require assistance can also apply for a second CRG-T support payout.