Octopus attempting to refund HK$66,000
Smartcard payment company Octopus is looking for card users to refund a total of HK$66,700 from 283 faulty electronic add-value transactions.
At Octopus' request, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is publishing a notice today to help people find out whether they are entitled to a refund. The company said cardholders involved in 283 EPS add-value transactions could not be contacted to arrange refunds.
Attempts to give refunds through banks had failed due to outdated contact information and closed bank accounts, it said.
Those who find their information in the notice can contact the relevant banks within a month to make refund arrangements.
Octopus chief executive Prudence Chan Bik-wah said it was 'committed to doing what we can to return these funds to customers'.
Octopus said in July it would return about HK$3.7 million to card users who had lost money from faulty electronic add-value transactions as far back as January 2000.
An independent audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers in July found 15,270 faulty EPS add-value transactions between January 2000 and December 2006 - about 0.06 per cent of the total.
Ms Chan apologised to card users for the faulty transactions.
The add-value service - which allowed customers to recharge their cards directly from their bank accounts - was discontinued in February last year after customers complained that money had been deducted from their accounts but not added to their cards.
The public notice is also available on Octopus' website. Refund inquiries after the one-month period can be made to Octopus on 2266 2222.
As in previous refunds, the company will provide a special card with a stored value of HK$10 for each failed Octopus EPS add-value transaction as 'a gesture of goodwill'.
