She spends 73 cents to get 10-cent refund

By Joyce Lim She has been overcharged for her bus rides more than five times this year alone. Each time, Miss Lee Hwee Teng, 39, made a claim, even though the amount could be as little as 10 cents. She would do this even if she had to take a bus - and pay a fare costing more than the claim amount - to a bank to deposit the refund cheques. This is because she does not have a bank account with DBS or POSB, the banks to which TransitLink can credit the refunds. Just last week, on Nov 17, Miss Lee received yet another cheque, refunding her the extra 10 cents that was deducted from her Cepas (Contactless ePurse Application Standard) card on Nov 8. Miss Lee, who is self-employed in the biotechology sector, submitted this latest claim - her fifth - through TransitLink's website and received her cheque refund within a week. The first 10-cent cheque that she received from TransitLink after she was overcharged. WHY BOTHER? Although the cheques were mailed to her home in Yishun Street 61, Miss Lee had to take a bus to the OCBC bank branch in either Yishun or Ang Mo Kio Town Central, the nearest branches to her home, to deposit them. She said: "It would cost 73 cents for me to take a bus from home to Yishun Central." So why go through all that trouble? Said Miss Lee: "It is a matter of principle... "Most people I know wouldn't bother to get a 10-cent refund. I have shared my experience with my friends, but they told me that it's only 10 cents and asked me to forget it. "But just imagine a whole busload of people being overcharged 10 cents for the ride."