Over 500 seek to return Covid-19 relief payouts

More than 500 people who applied for a Covid-19 relief grant have asked to return their payouts, and similar requests are still coming in.

They are among more than 300,000 people who have filed for the Temporary Relief Fund since applications opened on April 1. The fund gives a one-time cash grant of $500 to lower-and middle-income Singapore residents who have lost their jobs or incomes because of the coronavirus crisis.

Those wishing to return their payouts can do so either online or by returning their unbanked cheques or cashier's orders at their nearest social service office, said Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee in a Facebook post yesterday.

The requests to return the money came as the authorities warned against fraudulent claims. A man is being investigated for posting online that he managed to get the grant without documents and found the system "easy to cheat".

Asked if some of those returning the money had made fraudulent claims, a ministry spokesman would only say that people gave various reasons for returning their payouts.

Some, for example, said they were told they would be laid off or put on no-pay leave, but managed to retain their jobs and salaries in the end, thanks to the Government's Jobs Support Scheme. Others were "unsure whether their jobs or incomes would be affected because of the circuit breaker, so in their anxiety they applied without clarifying with their employers".

Then there were those who found they had "provided wrong information in their application earlier", and others who decided to return the payout because they wanted it to go to people who needed it more.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced earlier this month that the Jobs Support Scheme had been enhanced to cover 75 per cent of all local employees' wages this month, up to a wage ceiling of $4,600, as part of supplementary budget measures to save firms and jobs amid the pandemic. Salary support will be at different rates for another eight months.

Though the number of people who have tried to abuse the Temporary Relief Fund remains small, the authorities will "come down quite hard" on those who do, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam told reporters on Monday.

But while those returning their payouts may technically have committed an offence, said Mr Shanmugam, the authorities are unlikely to take any action against them.

People who want to return their payouts can do so at this website, or return their unbanked Temporary Relief Fund cheques or cashier's orders at their nearest social service office.


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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 18, 2020, with the headline Over 500 seek to return Covid-19 relief payouts. Subscribe