SINGAPORE: A Singaporean commuter recently raised concerns on social media after claiming that the ComfortDelGro (CDG) app deducted approximately S$2,000 from her PayLah account following the cancellation of a ride that cost around S$15.
According to her, she had used a promotional code via PayLah to get a S$2 discount on the ride. However, the ride was cancelled by the driver, prompting an automatic deduction of S$2,000 from her linked bank account through PayLah.
“Since my PayLah is set to auto-deduct, it directly deducted S$2,000 from my bank account with a bunch of S$30 transactions in one go. And it’s not reflected in my PayLah. Now I’m out S$2,000,” she explained.
Despite contacting her bank and reaching out to CDG, she claimed “no answer was given”, only assurances that her case would be escalated to the relevant department. Now her S$2,000 was nowhere to be found.
Concerned netizens advised her to file a police report and involve other regulatory bodies to address the alleged unauthorised deductions.
One commenter suggested, “Go make a police report. Say that you suspect CDG has stolen S$2,000 of your money through unauthorised deductions from your bank account. Then, send a copy of the police report to CDG (censoring any sensitive information) and see if that prompts action. Also, send a copy to your bank. You should also consider making a report to other relevant agencies that deal with this kind of matter.”
Another pointed out, “How can DBS say this is not their fault? If your bank account shows top up to PayLah, but there is no money nor deduction in PayLah then this is in fact an issue that the bank needs to resolve. How can the bank have no record of where your money went?”
Others shared similar experiences, with one commenter recounting, “Had something similar before but a much smaller amount, basically I just went going back and forth between the bank and the merchant repeatedly (because bank told me to find merchant, and merchant told me to find bank) until one of them responded.”
While some were more nonchalant in their approach stating, “just give it time” or “they will refund you eventually,” another advised, “But don’t stop pestering CDG or your bank or the police just in case.”
The Independent Singapore has contacted CDG and DBS for comment.
/TISG