A female passenger accidentally left S$30,000 worth of cash in a private-hire vehicle on Nov 8 and filed a police report on the incident.
Ms Jidapa operates a brand-name merchandise store in Golden Mile Complex and was on the way to work when the incident happened.
She had with her a Louis Vuitton bag filled with cash and a pair of earrings, reported Chinese language newspaper Shin Min Daily News.
About 13 minutes after getting off the vehicle, she realised her bag was missing.
She called the driver to return her belongings; however the driver said he couldn’t find the bag.
Ms Jidapa then filed a police report on the missing items.
It was reported that the ride-hailing company where the driver worked also couldn’t find the bag in the car.
The passenger hopes to find the items soon, noting the amount of money was not small.
Investigations are ongoing.
Netizens criticised what happened, noting it should be the passenger’s responsibility to double-check for any items left behind when exiting a taxi or private-hire vehicle.
“You are responsible to take all your belongings with you when you alight the taxi. Don’t push the blame to the driver for your own carelessness unless you are able to prove the driver has taken it,” said Facebook user Tan Kok Siong Alan in a comment with over 130 likes.
Others wondered if this was the beginning of such incidents, following an incident when a taxi driver received a stern warning from the Land Transport Authority for not checking his vehicle after a passenger left a wallet.
Many felt bad for taxi drivers in general as “it is already so difficult to earn a living, without being handed extra responsibility other than ferrying passengers from A to B and seeing safety of all.”/TISG