The carpark gantry at Lucky Plaza regularly deducts double and even triple the correct amount from my CashCard.

The worrying thing is that the excess deductions are not reflected in the transaction receipts. I realised this was happening only after noticing that my CashCard value was dropping far too quickly.

Whenever this happens, time is spent printing out the transaction slip, corresponding with Nets' customer service for a refund, and verifying that the refund is correctly credited.

It usually takes about a month for the matter to be settled.

Most people do not stop and check their CashCard balance before and after a deduction. They trust that the deduction is accurate, as Nets is so ubiquitous.

What safeguards do Nets and/or the carpark operators have against erroneous deductions?

What happens to all the excess money deducted if the motorist did not realise and apply for a refund?

Keeping the wrongfully deducted money is not ethical and a breach of consumers' trust in such cashless systems.

Some effort needs to be made to contact the motorist and refund him. This should not be difficult, as each car has a unique in-vehicle unit (IU). Surely, the errors would have been noted during audits.

Ultimately, who is responsible?

Nets directed me to liaise with the Lucky Plaza carpark operator directly. This made sense, as the problem seemed to be with its IU detector at exit. However, the operator has not replied to any of my queries.

In our national push to go cashless, the problems of safeguards and accountability urgently need to be addressed.

It will be difficult for consumers to keep track of all their different transactions and ensure they are accurate, especially if errors are not reflected on receipts.

Koh Yen Cheng (Ms)