Overview

Under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act,  the term “newspaper” refers to any publication containing news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or any remarks, observations or comments, in relation to such news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or to any other matter of public interest, printed in any language and published for sale or free distribution at regular intervals or otherwise, but does not include any publication published by or for the Government.

Types of Licences

Newspaper Permit

Who is this for?

A Newspaper Permit is required for:

·         Printing or publishing a newspaper in Singapore – at regular intervals or otherwise. Examples of newspapers include dailies, company or society in-house newsletters, annual reports and directories

·         Selling or distributing a Malaysian newspaper in Singapore

·         Selling or distributing an offshore newspaper in Singapore. An offshore newspaper is a newspaper published outside Singapore, at intervals not exceeding one week, which carries news or reports on politics and current affairs of any country in Southeast Asia, and with a circulation of 300 or more copies in Singapore.

Exceptions

A permit is not required for publications such as novels or one-off commemorative booklets.

Fees

No fees are required for a Newspaper Permit. However, a bank guarantee of SGD $200,000 is required for offshore newspapers.

How to Apply

The Proprietor or Chief Editor must obtain a permit prior to the commencement of sale or distribution of the publication. Once the permit is issued, the first issue must be published within three months.

The permit is not transferable. Any change of the permit holders, name of the newspaper, nature of contents, or of the language or the frequency of publication would require a new Permit. For change of publisher  or printer , the Registrar of Newspapers must be notified no later than seven days after the change has become effective.

The grant of the permit to the Proprietor or Chief Editor does not absolve the printer and the publisher from their other obligations under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.

Please complete the relevant application form and submit to the Registrar of Newspapers.

It takes 15 working days to process and issue a Newspaper Permit.

For the various applications of permits, please visit our Forms section.

Other Requirements

If the applicant or Chief Editor is a foreigner employed or residing in Singapore, a photocopy of the Foreigner Identification Card (FIN) is required.

For Malaysian newspapers, a photocopy of a valid Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) permit issued by the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs to print/publish the publication in Malaysia and samples of the latest three issues of the publication must be enclosed together with the application form. Note that the expiry date of the KDN permit must be more than three months as at date of application.

If your intended publication is with a frequency of weekly or less, you are required to form a “newspaper company” as legislated. However, if you do not have the intention to run a newspaper company and wish to be exempted from this requirement, please attach a covering letter, together with the application form(s), stating the reasons for such an exemption to be granted.
For the various applications of permits, please visit our Forms section.