Cost of convenience? Man finds out why he spent $15 on public transport in 1 day
Qazim Karim realised he'd been charged extra for public transport as he had been tapping in and out with two different devices.
PHOTO: TikTok/Qazim Karim, Lianhe Zaobao
PUBLISHED ONOctober 14, 2022 8:30 AMByClaudia TanUsing both your smart watch and mobile phone to pay for your rides? You might be paying extra fares unknowingly.
While checking his credit card bills, Qazim Karim was shocked to find he had spent $14.75 on public transport in a single day.
The 33-year-old public servant then made a TikTok video sharing his discovery on Thursday (Oct 13), saying: "When I tap out or tap into a train station I actually use my Apple Watch, which is linked to my credit card.
"[But] sometimes when my watch is jammed, and there's so many people behind me, so I just take my phone and tap, and it's actually considered two different transactions," he said.
Speaking to AsiaOne, Qazim said that this is the first time he's checked his credit card bills to see how much he had spent on transport. He did so after a friend asked him about public transport costs in Singapore.
Qazim said he's been using the wallet function on his Apple Watch for the past two years, but he's unsure how much more he's been charged for tapping in and out with different devices on rides.
Screenshots of his public transport transactions showed that Qazim travelled to several places on Sept 10, the day he was charged $14.75.
He boarded the train at Bedok MRT station, and used another device to tap out when he alighted at Clementi.
Thus, the receipt showed two transactions with a "missing exit" and a "missing entry", meaning that Qazim was charged $4.40 for one trip. A quick check using Land Transport Authority's fare calculator showed that the fare for such a trip would cost around $1.94.
And it looks like Qazim isn't the only one who has been paying extra for public transport unknowingly.
Several netizens commented on his TikTok video, saying they've been charged extra as well.
Some helpful netizens offered suggestions such as downloading the TransitLink SimplyGo app to track transactions, or even going to the website to submit a claim for refund.
Qazim replied to comments, saying that he has since submitted a claim for a refund of the extra charges.
SimplyGo but stick to one mode of payment
Introduced in 2019, SimplyGo allows commuters to use their debit or credit cards to pay for their fares on public transport.
A pamphlet by the Land Transport Authority stated that a transaction "will not be successful" if a commuter uses a mixture of card and mobile payment, even if the linked card is the same.
They will be recognised as separate transactions, meaning that commuters might incur multiple charges.
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