Make prepayment protection clear before long-term fitness packages are sold: Forum

The abrupt closure of True Fitness and True Yoga is a reminder that when customers pay months or years in advance, they are also taking on a financial risk (True Fitness and True Yoga to shutter; customers report losses of more than $609,000, Sept 11).

By 6pm on Sept 11, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) had received 241 complaints involving more than $609,000 in reported losses from unused memberships, packages and services. The eventual amount customers may recover through liquidation is not yet known.

Prepayment itself is not necessarily a problem. It can give consumers better prices, and businesses more predictable income. But customers should be able to understand clearly what happens to their money if the operator suddenly closes.

CASE already requires CaseTrust-accredited fitness centres that collect advance payments to protect consumers’ prepayments, subject to applicable exemptions. What may be useful is making the protection status much more visible at the point of sale.

When a fitness centre sells a substantial long-term package, customers could receive a simple standard notice stating whether their payment is protected, how much is covered and what the claims process would be if the business ceases operations.

If a package is not protected, customers should also have a genuine monthly-payment option without an excessive price penalty. Those buying protected packages should receive proof of coverage and be able to check their remaining unused balance easily.

Such safeguards would inevitably involve some administrative and insurance costs, so they should focus on substantial advance payments rather than ordinary monthly fees. Businesses should still be free to offer discounts for longer commitments. The aim is not to discourage prepaid packages. It is to make the risk clear before customers commit large sums.

Consumers should not need to study a company’s financial position to understand what could happen to their money if its doors suddenly close. A clearer choice between protected prepayment and monthly payment would help them decide with their eyes open.

Pang Chong Liu

True Fitness and True Yoga to shutter; customers report losses of more than $609,000

Fitness chains True Fitness and True Yoga in Singapore are set to close down, with their Hong Kong parent company declaring that it is winding up the businesses owing to market competition and cost pressures.

In a market announcement on Sept 10, parent company Kontafarma China Holdings said the directors of True Yoga and True Fitness passed resolutions saying they were unable to continue their businesses owing to their liabilities.

Following the announcement, Singapore’s consumer rights watchdog said True Fitness and True Yoga members have reported losses of more than $609,000.

In a Facebook post on Sept 11, Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) president Melvin Yong said as at 6pm, the agency had received 241 complaints about the closure, with the reported losses resulting from unused memberships, packages and services.

Earlier at 1pm, CASE reported having received 28 complaints from consumers affected.

“CASE has reached out to the provisional liquidator and will continue to seek clarification on the arrangements for affected consumers, including information required for consumers to lodge their claims,” he said.

Two employees who spoke to The Straits Times on Sept 11 said they were notified of the sudden closure via e-mail, seen by ST, at about 10.30pm on Sept 10, just an hour before the official shutdown.

In the e-mail, the company’s human resources department stated that “all outlets will be closed effective immediately and are not to be opened tomorrow (Sept 11)”.

The True Fitness and True Yoga businesses come under the True Singapore Group, which also operates fitness and yoga centres TFX and Yoga Edition here. All outlets under these brands are set to close as part of the winding-up process, said Kontafarma.

The True Singapore Group has been under mounting financial strain, recording substantial losses and net liabilities, even as it continued to generate notable revenue, said Kontafarma.

In 2025, the True Singapore Group recorded revenue of HK$181.2 million (S$29.3 million) and a loss of HK$34.3 million. As at Dec 31 of that year, the group had total assets of HK$149.7 million, total liabilities of HK$555.5 million and net liabilities of HK$405.8 million.

The group’s unaudited management accounts show that it recorded revenue of HK$118.4 million for the eight months ended Aug 31, 2026, and a loss of HK$19.1 million during the same period. As at Aug 31, the group had total assets of HK$204.5 million, total liabilities of HK$633.8 million and net liabilities of HK$429.3 million.

As at end-August, it owed Kontafarma group HK$309.7 million.

Insolvency practitioners Goh Wee Teck and Lin Yueh Hung from RSM SG Corporate Advisory have been appointed as provisional liquidators. Extraordinary general meetings of both True Fitness and True Yoga will be held on Oct 7, where creditors’ voluntary winding-up will be proposed, followed by meetings with creditors.

True Fitness’ website shows that it has three outlets in Singapore – at Djitsun Mall in Ang Mo Kio, NTUC Income@Tampines Junction and Velocity in Novena – which also houses a Yoga Edition outlet. Its fourth outlet in Great World was not listed.

TFX and Yoga Edition have joint outlets at CIMB Plaza in Raffles Place and Millenia Walk. TFX’s third outlet is in Funan.

Combined, the brands operate seven outlets in Singapore.

Intense competition

In the announcement, Kontafarma described the challenges faced by the True Singapore Group as unprecedented.

The rising popularity of boutique gyms, fitness apps and online coaching had intensified competition, and more residential developments were providing gyms, reducing consumers’ need for external gym memberships, it said.

“While the best endeavours have been made to control costs and optimise operational efficiency of the fitness business in Singapore, the fitness business has found it extremely difficult to continue amid the fiercely challenging market,” it added.

Locked doors, liquidation notices

As at Sept 11, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) BizFile records showed the status of both True Fitness and True Yoga as “in liquidation – creditors voluntary winding-up”.

The winding-up of the True Singapore Group follows news of the franchise fitness business pulling out of the Taiwanese market in October 2025. Taiwan was the only region it had been operating in outside of Singapore at the time.

The news came as a shock to the Singapore staff. Mani Jr, a 28-year-old personal trainer, told ST: “Management had even talked about upgrading some of the existing branches.”

He was one of around 50 former employees of True Fitness and True Yoga at a liquidators’ meeting in Claymore Hill on Sept 11. He said they were simply asked to sign termination forms.

Calvin Siew, a 43-year-old exercise instructor, told ST that the company said staff would “need to wait” for updates on the remainder of their September pay.

When The Straits Times visited the True Fitness outlet at Velocity at about 10am on Sept 11, the outlet was cordoned off with hoarding, with a repossession notice pasted across the entrance.

The True Fitness outlets at Djitsun Mall and NTUC Income@Tampines Junction and the TFX outlet at Millenia Walk were also shuttered as at Sept 11, with notices announcing the brand’s liquidation posted at the entrances.

Speaking to ST outside the Velocity outlet, True Fitness member Jeanette Chen said she had just started paying membership fees of $79 a month to the gym on Sept 9, a day before she received news of its closure. The 39-year-old administrative executive, who has been a member with the gym since 2023, said she visited the outlet because she wanted to make sure she was not “hallucinating”.

“I already bought a gym bag and cute outfits... (and) did not believe they were going to do this.”

ST has contacted RSM SG Corporate Advisory, True Fitness, True Yoga, the National Trades Union Congress and the Ministry of Manpower for more information.Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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