Driving schools fully booked for months; some students paying for bots to secure limited lesson slots

SINGAPORE: Driving schools in Singapore are taking action against a growing army of internet bots that students pay for to reserve and book practical lesson slots, amid a post-pandemic surge in sign-ups.
In July, the Singapore Safety Driving Centre in Woodlands put up a notice on its website warning people against using these services on messaging app Telegram and other platforms like Carousell.
ComfortDelGro Driving Centre, which sees about 2,000 sign-ups every month, said it will suspend users for three months if they are caught using bots to get lesson slots.
New students at these two schools now must wait about two to three months to take practical lessons.
The other remaining licensed school, Bukit Batok Driving Centre, currently has the longest wait time, with all lesson slots taken for the next six months.
According to a sign at its counter seen by CNA last week, the next available slot is in February or March. It stated that the information was accurate as of Aug 2, with new slots released every last Thursday of the month.
Bots are also used in other situations like buying concert tickets as well as booking sports facilities and university lessons.
Experts said there are currently no regulations on the use of bots, but noted that using it to book slots is unethical as it deprives others of a fair chance.
CNA’s checks on Carousell showed several people selling “booking bot” or “camper bot” services – a practice that has been going on for a few years.
These bots help to snap up slots that are occasionally released online at random when other learners cancel their bookings. Students usually book multiple slots at one go, then give them up when they cannot make it.
Those interested will be directed to a Telegram chat. The chat bot then gives step-by-step instructions on how to book slots, and either sends users a notification when a slot is free or helps users to book it.
Users pay up to S$10 (US$7.60) to get one bot credit to book slots.
Some bot scripts are also available online and through YouTube tutorials, meaning those who know how to code do not even need to pay for such services.
Mr Gibbsen Omar, a senior lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s School of Infocomm, noted that bots have a “much higher chance” of booking slots in bulk as human beings cannot compare with their speed.
“One thing that bots can do is web scraping – basically (they) access the content of the website and extract the relevant information,” he pointed out.
“They also make use of something called headless browsers – they can simulate real user activity without actually visiting the website itself, making the interaction quick and succinct.”
ComfortDelGro Driving Centre told CNA that their efforts to tackle such bots have been successful so far, claiming that fewer people have used bots on their websites.
Apart from a strict three-month suspension for those caught using bots, ComfortDelGro Driving Centre hired a vendor to generate reports on users displaying bot-like activities.
It also began opening slots at various timings and putting in an AI algorithm to prevent learners from using bots. Those who sign up for lessons will have to perform a CAPTCHA authentication as well.
“In the end, everybody will have a fair chance to book their sessions,” said ComfortDelGro Driving Centre CEO Vincent Tan.
Bukit Batok Driving Centre and Singapore Safety Driving Centre declined to comment when contacted by CNA.
Mr Tan noted that demand for lessons has been partly driven by some students who deferred their lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned in the last two years.
The school at Ubi Industrial Estate now has more than 350 instructors – nearly 10 per cent more than three years ago. 
It also brought in four new car simulators and 15 cars, which has helped to add more than 700 learning sessions every week.
“What (we are) committed to do is continue to buy vehicles as well as recruit more instructors so that we will be able to support the learners better,” Mr Tan said.
“This is an ongoing process – we do not have a cap on the number of vehicles that we are buying nor the number of instructors we are recruiting.”
ComfortDelGro Driving Centre is also looking into technology like car cameras to help students learn better.
Meanwhile, it will convert two car simulators to motorcycle ones next year to help another growing group of learners.
The school is facing more interest from those looking to get a motorcycle licence, which has become a cheaper alternative – especially for those looking to do gig work like food delivery.
For those looking to circumvent the long waiting times at schools, there is an option of hiring a private driving instructor. But the number of such instructors have been dwindling, with some previously telling CNA that none will be left in about 10 years’ time. 
The police stopped issuing private driving instructor licences in 1987 when the first two driving schools were set up.
The country only has about 300 private driving instructors now, compared with the 1980s when there were thousands of them.
Young Singaporeans told CNA that they still want to learn how to drive due to the convenience and the option of renting a vehicle, even as Singapore aims to go car-lite and certificate of entitlement (COE) prices have skyrocketed.
One such driver is 22-year-old Calvert Choo. The full-time national serviceman rents a car about three times a week from a car-sharing firm that has vehicles close to his Housing Board block, paying around S$9 an hour.
The easy access is a reason why he took driving lessons about two years ago. He said he gets behind the wheel to save time running errands, or to join friends for a late supper.
“Cars are quite expensive these days, so for younger (people) like me personally, it will be quite difficult to get my hands on the car if car-sharing companies didn’t really exist,” he said.
Car-sharing services said more younger drivers are signing up with them.
For example, one in three new signups at Tribecar were by those aged 25 or below. Before the pandemic, the same age group made up one in five new signups at the firm.
Tribecar allows those with P-plates to sign up as well, and recently began offering insurance that limits accident repair costs to S$500.
Another car-sharing firm, GetGo, is seeing a similar trend. Sign-ups for aged 25 or below have jumped by about four times since 2022.
It has about 400,000 users now and a fleet of 3,000 vehicles to meet demand, with more cars to be added in the coming years.
“More and more young people see that they have that flexibility and the convenience of being able to drive to meet their needs without having to own a car,” said GetGo CEO and co-founder Toh Ting Feng.
“There are other factors – the ride-hailing economy is one of them. Delivery as an industry is also one of them as well. So there are many good reasons to want to learn how to drive,” he added.