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Top 4 Consumer Rights That Singaporeans Might Not Be Aware Of
This article was originally on GET.com at: Top 4 Consumer Rights That Singaporeans Might Not Be Aware Of
It's important to be aware of our consumer rights so that we can take a stand if we're treated unfairly. We've probably heard our fair share of ridiculous mistreatments towards consumers when aberrant retailers go overboard to take advantage of consumers right in the heart of largely law-abiding Singapore. Some of us might even have had a first-hand experience that's way too frustrating and maddening to recount. It sure is great news that our government is looking to enhance consumer protection laws so that consumers like you and I stand to gain when it comes to fairness and justice.
Why would anybody say no to better consumer protection, right? Here, we at GET.com have rounded up the top 4 consumer rights that Singaporeans might be clueless about, because it's always a good idea to know our rights no matter whether we're buying something that costs $50 or $5 million.
Top 4 Consumer Rights That Singaporeans Might Not Be Aware Of
1. Credit Card Fraud Protection
Since 1 November 2009, The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) kicked new measures into effect to further protect consumers against credit card fraud by implementing a maximum liability cap of $100 when a lost or stolen credit card is used for unauthorised transactions before the cardholder gets to notify the card issuing bank of the loss or his or her credit card.
Nonetheless, this liability cap of $100 is applicable only for cardholders who have not acted fraudulently, been negligent or taken their own sweet time to report the loss despite realising that their card has been stolen or lost.
An additional important thing to note is that cardholders will not be held accountable in cases where their card details were used for unauthorised transactions, when their credit cards haven't been lost or stolen. Of course, cardholders themselves shouldn't be fraudulent or negligent in any way for such cases, either.
2. Double-Swiping Of Your Cards
First things first, double-swiping of your card is not a necessary process in a payment transaction whether you're paying with a credit, debit or charge card.
If you don't already know, since 2012, ABS and the Card Schemes (e.g. American Express, MasterCard, Visa etc) require all retail merchants in Singapore to ‘stop capturing and storing sensitive payment card data encoded on the magnetic stripes of customers' payment cards.
Double-swiping will allow your sensitive payment card data to be captured at the Point-of-Sale (POS) reader or Electronic Cash Register (ECR). You do not want that to happen, ever.
3. What's OK Or Not OK When Paying In Coins
This might come as a surprise for many Singaporeans but under the Currency Act, coins in $1 denomination can be used to pay for any sum, but payments over $10 in $0.50 coins can be refused. Similarly, payments above $2 using coins in denominations smaller than $0.50 can be refused.
Those who are keen to read more about the Currency Act can head on over to the official site of Singapore Statutes Online to look it up.
Has your interest in Singapore coins been piqued? If so, here are 7 things you didn't know about the Singapore coins that you probably use every single day.
4. Buyers Of Resale HDB Flats Have 21 Days To Deliberate Over The Intended Purchase
According to HDB, buyers have up to 21 days to exercise the Option to Purchase (Option) when buying a resale HDB flat. Of course, buyers will have to pay the Option Fee to the sellers in exchange.
During this time period of 21 days, buyers can think over the intended purchase, check their eligibility for an HDB home loan or letter of offer from the bank and so on.
On the other hand, when sellers grant an Option to the buyers for them to buy the flat at the agreed resale price established, sellers cannot sell or make an offer to other buyers during the same time period.
Anyhow, if you're intending to settle down and buy your first HDB flat, have a read about how much money you'll need to buy your first HDB flat in Singapore.
What do you think? Share your comments with us below!
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