Refund Process irks bus passengers (By: Elsa Ng)

Bus commuters who were overcharged for their fares and are eligible for refunds are annoyed at having to figure out how to get them. They are also irritated that, although the mistake was not theirs, the onus is on them to go personally to the add-value machines in bus interchanges and MRT stations or to TransLink ticket offices for yheir refunds. Twenty commuters who were interviewed were reacting to Monday's annoucement by Land Transport Authority (LTA) that bus operators SBS Transit and SMRT had wrongly measured the distance between 68 pairs of bus stops. Their neglecting to factor in detours on routes affected by roadworks resulted in commuters being overcharged by a total of about $300,000 since July, when the distance-based fare system kicked in. On average, commuters paid or will pay four cents more than they should on every journey passing through the affected bus stops between july and today.
Commuters have written in to The Straits Times Forum page, complaining about the difficulty in getting a refund and asking for more information on the process. They complained that the website that LTA pointed them to is hard to navigate and that they cannot remember all bus services they took or the bus stops thay passed.

Why did the article appeal to me ?
The artice appeals to me as I may be the one paying extra money for the MRT and bus rides. I want to know how to get the refund if I am the one being affected.

What questions do I have for the writer ?
I want to ask the writer that how do we know whether we are the ones that are affected by the overcharges?
Some commuters like me may not know whether we are the ones that are affected by the overcharging of the MRT and bus rides. I think that additional information should be given to commuters.

If I am in charged/ in control,would I have done the same or what actions would I have taken ?
If I am in charged of the situation, I would have also refund the commuters the overcharged fares. However, I will also give them additional $1 together with their refund for the mistake caused.