It is impossible for Cashcards/IUs to fail, I was told.
Written by ED on May 27, 2008 – 9:27 pm - Posted in Current Affairs, Singapore |Today, a different tune is sung by Senior Minister of State for Transport, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, whom just said it is impossible for a zero-error system. I wished, it was Mrs Lim Hwee Hua who serviced me at the counter some years ago.
I believe for every technology, there are always room for failures. Even hi-tech fighter jets and automated systems in manufacturing industry possess a certain degree of mistakes in which human intervention is necessary. I came to realize that highlighting a problem in a new system is so much more difficult than getting proper response to a documented problem.
Some years ago, I received four letters which subjected me to “administrative charges” for failure to insert my cashcard in my IU. Obviously, I took it up and explained my situation. I heard the beep whenever I ran under an ERP gantry, even though I didn’t check the remaining value on the IU display. And furthermore, what are the chances of a motorist forgetting to insert his cashcard four times in a space of one month?
I was told by the counter staff, that such problems were “unheard” of. All she did was inserting my Cashcard in a reader, and according to her, if the value is readable then there should be no problem with the ERP gantries. It’s impossible that the beep was sounded, but no fees were deducted. Eventually, I paid for all four “administrative charges” to save myself the trouble of having to go back there again.
How ironical? After a few years, now I am looking at others having their “administrative charges” waived when my appeal was ignored. In addition, the statement seemed to be the direct opposite of what I was told a few years ago. It placed doubts in me, are counter staffs updated with these information or “impossible” is the best option to quickly get rid of a motorist?
Now that it has been publicized that such a problem DO exist, have I been taken for a ride? I am also wondering, how many more motorists had such an experience like mine?
Some of us have already sold our vehicles, and what redress can we seek? None! We just happened to be the small group of stupid individuals who couldn’t convince the LTA that there IS a problem with the Cashcard/IU.
Or was it because the counter staff wasn’t even open to the idea that there COULD BE a problem?
