#trending: Passenger alleges Tada driver demanded S$100 for 'safeguarding' her laptop left behind in his vehicle
SINGAPORE — A passenger who booked a private-hire car with ride-hailing platform Tada has filed a police report against her driver, alleging that he asked for money when she asked to get back her laptop.
Mr Abdul Hamid A Razik's text message response (pictured) when Ms Juliet Isabella asked for the return of her lost item.
- A passenger of ride-hailing app Tada has filed a police report against her driver
- The passenger alleged that he asked for money when she tried to collect her laptop that she had left behind in his private-hire car
- The passenger posted about the incident on Facebook, alleging that the driver was "blackmailing and holding her laptop as ransom"
SINGAPORE — A passenger who booked a private-hire car with ride-hailing platform Tada has filed a police report against her driver, alleging that he asked for money when she asked to get back her laptop.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (May 23) morning, Ms Juliet Isabella said that she left her laptop behind when she alighted at her destination. She booked a ride around 4pm on Monday from Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' Secondary School in Hougang to Ai Tong School in Bright Hill.
Ms Isabella, who is a soft-skills trainer and in her 30s, said that she promptly contacted the driver whom she said is Mr Abdul Hamid A Razik. She claimed that he asked her for a payment for helping to "safeguard" her laptop and for his time.
She then offered to meet him at a convenient location and offered him S$10 as a token of gratitude, but he refused and complained that the amount was "so little", she added.
"He gave me his handphone number to contact him when he thinks of how much I should pay him.
"That's blackmailing and holding my laptop ransom!", Ms Isabella wrote in a post on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page, which has been shared more than 490 times as of Thursday afternoon.
She recounted later calling the driver twice, only to be told that she must pay S$100 to collect her laptop.
In their final conversation, she said that the driver agreed to accept S$50 as a "safeguarding laptop fee".
Ms Isabella said that she reached out to Tada Singapore for assistance and was advised by a staff member to file a police report.
In response to TODAY's query, Tada said that Ms Isabella reached out to the company on Monday at around 4.30pm. The firm followed up with the driver, who returned the laptop at a police post on the same day at around 9pm.
Ms Isabella made a police report that day at 10.30pm.
The police confirmed that such a report had been filed.
Tada emphasised that its drivers are advised to return lost items to the "nearest police post, Tada Station at Midview City, or directly to the passenger if convenient or when agreed".
When contacted by TODAY, Mr Abdul the driver claimed that he has also filed a police report but declined to comment further.
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