High Court strikes down S$6,000 fee charged to Parklane mall for unauthorised service road use

[SINGAPORE] The High Court has ruled that S$6,000 in administrative fees charged to Parklane Shopping Mall for unauthorised use of an adjacent service road is an unenforceable penalty, after the mall’s management corporation and the road owner failed to agree on access terms.

This is a supplemental ruling and relates to a dispute involving Kosma Holdings, owner of both the service road and the mall’s car park, which had installed structures preventing rubbish bins from being wheeled past the car park barrier to waiting garbage trucks.

Kosma also imposed a S$1,000 penalty for each unauthorised entry and charged between S$20 and S$100 for loading bay access, on top of usual parking charges. It claimed S$6,000 for six alleged unauthorised entries.

The Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) and Kosma had earlier gone to court; and in a September 2025 judgement, Justice Philip Jeyaretnam ruled that Kosma had been “unreasonable” for blocking garbage trucks’ access and charging fees to reach the loading bay and bin centre.

He granted the mall access rights to the service road, but asked both parties to negotiate specific terms.

Following that ruling, the parties resolved two issues: Kosma removed a bollard obstructing the loading bay entrance and agreed to remove a barrier between the loading bay and service road, along with other structures.

But disagreements remained on four key areas: which vehicles could access the loading bay and what they should pay; whether the mall should contribute to road maintenance costs; whether pedestrians should have access; and whether express orders were needed to prevent future obstructions.

In a supplemental judgement on Jan 30, Justice Jeyaretnam intervened to set final terms on these disputes, including ruling the S$6,000 penalty as unenforceable.

‘Extravagant and unconscionable’

Justice Jeyaretnam noted that the S$1,000 administrative fees targets motorists who evade paying parking fees by tailgating.

Thus, contrary to Kosma’s argument, “the loss in question is not for damage caused to the… gantry arm, but rather for unpaid parking fees,” said the judge.

“Seen in this light, the administrative fee of S$1,000 is extravagant and unconscionable in comparison with the greater loss that could conceivably be proved to have followed from a motorist’s failure to pay for parking fees,” he added.

Given that Kosma’s parking fees for the service road and loading bay is fixed at S$7 an hour, a vehicle would have to be parked there for close to three full days for the parking fees to amount to S$1,000, he noted.

Justice Jeyaretnam also ruled that drivers’ awareness of the high fee did not make it reasonable, as garbage trucks and other vehicles had no choice but to use the service road as it was the only access route to the loading bay.

Kosma had also failed to produce any evidence showing that a high administrative fee for evasion of parking fees is common in Singapore.

Resolving disputed terms

On the four other disputed areas, Justice Jeyaretnam ruled the following.

Garbage trucks can use the service road free of charge, while other vehicles – including delivery trucks and contractors – must pay fees capped at 1.5 times the car park rates.

On road maintenance costs, the mall’s management corporation must equally share the cost for maintaining, repairing and replacing the 6.4 m stretch of service road directly in front of the loading bay.

Separately, Justice Jeyaratnam rejected the mall’s request for pedestrian access through the service road, noting that pedestrians can use the main entrance at Selegie Road and that the service road was intended for vehicles only.

The judge also ruled that express orders preventing Kosma from installing future obstructions were unnecessary, as the access rights granted would implicitly prohibit any impediments.