Refunds made for two out of every 100,000 trips on SimplyGo

Passengers overcharged after using different devices or cards at entry and exit points

- Lee Nian Tjoe

Refunds were given for two out of every 100,000 public transport trips paid on the SimplyGo platform, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat.

Passengers were overcharged an average of $2.70 because they had used different devices or cards at the entry and exit points of the bus or MRT, Mr Chee said on March 1 in response to questions by Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC).

Mr Giam had asked how many applications for refunds were made, and whether fare gates can prevent commuters from exiting if they use a different device or card from the one they used when entering.

"It is not possible to identify and reconcile such transactions automatically, since a single card can be used by different commuters. For example, the same bank card can be set up on multiple devices for use by different family members," Mr Chee said.

Mr Chee also said it was not "operationally feasible" to stop commuters from exiting if a different device or card was used because that would require a check with the backend system. This would slow down the flow of commuters and lead to long queues during peak hours, he added.

On educating commuters to use the same device or card when taking public transport, Mr Chee said such efforts began in March 2017 during the pilot with Mastercard for fare payment.