PHV passenger pays $19.30 fare -- with bag of coins
Cash is king?
A private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver took to Facebook to share that a passenger paid a $19.30 fare entirely in coins.
According to a July 4 post on Beh Chia Lor - Singapore Road's Facebook page, the passenger had wanted to pay via credit card.
The post quoted the PHV driver as saying: "I told him no... only cash... all of sudden he passed me a bag of coins, I said huh??? He told me his friend counted for him already $19.30. I was shocked (sic)."
Reactions from netizens have been mixed.
Some said coins are still money, with one user commenting: "No wrong, coins are a form of cash."
They also pointed out that the driver was the one who asked for cash.
However, another said: "While coins are a form of cash, there is a legal tender for the amount of cash that you can pay with coins."
One netizen had the ideal solution: "If driver buay song, can slowly count the coins while the passenger waits."
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), there is a limit of 20 coins per denomination for each transaction.
A vendor is only obliged to accept payments up to this legal tender limit and can reject any payment exceeding the limit.
MAS said this is to reduce inconvenience to vendors and their waiting customers should a customer wish to offer a large quantity of coins for payment.
However, a vendor and customer may still use quantities of coins above the legal tender limit, subject to both parties agreeing to do so before entering into the transaction.
