Statute Details
- Title: Fees (Statistics) Order
- Act Code: FeA1920-OR46
- Legislative Type: Subsidiary legislation (sl)
- Authorising Act: Fees Act (Chapter 106, Section 2)
- Order Citation: O 46
- Government Notification (Original): G.N. No. S 444/1991
- Revised Edition: 1996 RevEd (25 March 1992)
- Current Version Status: Current version as at 27 March 2026
- Key Provisions: Section 1 (Citation); Section 2 (Fees payable at the office of the Chief Statistician)
- Commencement: Not stated in the extract; amendment note indicates fees arrangement updated by S 172/2005 with effect from 1 April 2005
What Is This Legislation About?
The Fees (Statistics) Order is a Singapore subsidiary instrument made under the Fees Act. In practical terms, it sets out the fees payable to the Government for certain statistical services provided through the office of the Chief Statistician. The Order is designed to regulate the charging of fees for work that involves compiling, producing, or analysing statistical information derived from the Department’s data.
In plain language, the legislation answers a straightforward question for users of statistical information: how much will it cost to obtain particular statistical returns or special statistical work from the Department. It does so by prescribing a fee schedule for standard outputs (such as pages of A4-sized returns) and by addressing the pricing approach for more complex requests (such as special returns requiring compilation and analysis).
The Order’s scope is therefore not about collecting taxes or imposing regulatory burdens on the public. Instead, it is about charging for services—particularly where the Department must expend resources to compile data into a deliverable format, or to perform additional compilation and analysis beyond routine outputs.
What Are the Key Provisions?
Section 1 (Citation) provides the formal short title of the instrument: the Fees (Statistics) Order. While this is standard drafting, it matters for legal referencing, especially when disputes arise about whether a particular fee was properly imposed under the correct legal instrument.
Section 2 (Fees) is the operative provision. It states that there shall be payable at the office of the Chief Statistician the following fees. The extract indicates two main categories:
(a) Fees for A4 pages or part thereof of returns compiled from the Department’s data. The Order provides a per-page charge for every A4 size page (or part thereof) of any return that can be compiled from the Department’s data. The extract shows the fee amount as $12.40 for each A4 page or part thereof. This structure suggests a “unit pricing” model: the more pages (or partial pages) required for the return, the higher the total fee.
(b) Fees for special returns involving special compilation and analysis. The extract indicates that for “every special return involving a special compilation and analysis”, the fees are not fixed by a simple per-page rate. Instead, the Order states: “Fees to be arranged between applicant and the Chief Statistician.” This is a key legal feature: it introduces a negotiated pricing mechanism for complex or bespoke statistical work.
From a practitioner’s perspective, the distinction between (a) and (b) is crucial. Requests that fall within routine compilation from existing Department data may attract the per-page fee. Requests that require “special compilation and analysis” likely fall into the negotiated category. In disputes, the classification of the request—routine compilation versus special compilation and analysis—will often determine the applicable charging basis.
Although the extract is truncated after the fee description for category (b), the legal effect is clear: the Order authorises the Chief Statistician to charge fees according to the schedule for standard returns and to agree fees with applicants for special returns. The legal framework therefore balances predictability (fixed per-page pricing for standard outputs) with flexibility (negotiated pricing for bespoke work).
How Is This Legislation Structured?
The Order is short and structured in a typical subsidiary-legislation format. It contains:
Section 1: the citation provision (short title).
Section 2: the fees provision, which sets out the categories of fees payable at the office of the Chief Statistician and the method for determining those fees (fixed per-page fee for standard returns; negotiated fees for special returns requiring compilation and analysis).
There are no additional parts or detailed schedules shown in the extract. The operative content is concentrated in Section 2, reflecting the Order’s purpose: to provide a legal basis for charging and to specify the charging rules.
Who Does This Legislation Apply To?
The legislation applies to persons or entities that request statistical returns or statistical services from the Department through the office of the Chief Statistician. In other words, it governs fee liability in the context of providing statistical outputs. The “applicant” referred to in Section 2(b) indicates that the fee regime is triggered by a request made to the Chief Statistician.
While the extract does not specify who may apply (e.g., members of the public, companies, researchers, or government agencies), the structure suggests that it is not limited to a particular class of requester. Instead, it is tied to the nature of the return: whether it can be compiled from the Department’s data (at the per-page rate) or whether it requires special compilation and analysis (fees arranged between applicant and the Chief Statistician).
Why Is This Legislation Important?
Although the Order is brief, it is legally significant because it establishes the authorised charging framework for statistical services. In administrative law and public finance contexts, fees charged by public authorities typically require clear legal authority. By being made under the Fees Act, the Order provides that authority and sets out how the Chief Statistician may charge for outputs.
For practitioners advising clients—such as businesses seeking market or demographic statistics, consultants preparing reports, or researchers requesting tailored datasets—the Order helps clarify the expected cost structure. The per-page fee model for standard returns supports budgeting and cost forecasting. The negotiated model for special returns signals that bespoke requests may involve additional cost drivers (time, analytical work, and resource allocation) and therefore require early engagement with the Chief Statistician’s office.
From an enforcement and dispute-resolution standpoint, the Order also provides a basis for challenging or defending fee assessments. If a client is charged under the “special return” category, the client may scrutinise whether the request truly involved “special compilation and analysis” rather than compilation from existing Department data. Conversely, if the Department treats a request as routine compilation but the work required goes beyond routine compilation, the applicant may seek clarification or renegotiation consistent with the Order’s framework.
Finally, the legislative history note in the extract indicates that the fee arrangement rules were amended with effect from 1 April 2005 (noted as S 172/2005). This matters for historical disputes or for determining the applicable fee regime at the relevant time. Practitioners should therefore verify the version of the Order applicable to the date of the request or the date the fee was assessed.
Related Legislation
- Fees Act (Chapter 106, Section 2) — authorising legislation for the making of fees orders
- Fees (Statistics) Order — the subsidiary legislation analysed (O 46)
- S 172/2005 — amendment referenced in the extract (effective 1 April 2005)
- S 46/1996 — amendment referenced in the legislative history
Source Documents
This article provides an overview of the Fees (Statistics) Order for legal research and educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult the official text for authoritative provisions.