SHE did not have enough cash to pay the taxi fare, and there wasn't a Nets machine in the cab.

So Ms Lydia Suradi told the cabby to drive her to an ATM nearby.

But when the 25-year-old customer service executive returned after getting the cash, she alleged that the cab was nowhere to be seen - along with her handbag that she had left in the vehicle.

Nearly three weeks have passed since the incident and Ms Suradi claims she has yet to recover her designer handbag, which contained, among other things, her handphone and ez-link card.

She estimated her losses at about $2,000.

Ms Suradi described how, at around 12.35pm on 23 Sep, she had flagged a Silvercab along Bangkit Road in Bukit Panjang. She was going to her office in Clemenceau Avenue near Orchard Road.

No Nets machine

When she realised that the taxi did not have a Nets machine, she said she directed the cabby to a coffee shop not far from where she had boarded.

She then told the driver to wait for her while she went to the ATM. Ms Suradi claimed she took her wallet with her but left her handbag in the cab.

"I wanted to indicate to the driver that I'd be returning in case he thought I was going to cheat him of the taxi fare," Ms Suradi explained.

But when she returned a few minutes later, the taxi was no longer there, she alleged.

Ms Suradi said she had no identification documents in her handbag as her wallet was with her.

She also did not take down the cab's licence plate number, she said.

She then went home - a five-minute walk away and called her boyfriend. She later walked to his house, which was nearby.

She used his handphone to call her own handphone number. But no one answered.

Ms Suradi claimed she continued calling for the next three hours.

She also called Premier Taxis, which operates Silvercabs. She was told they would not be able to track the driver without the licence plate number, she said.

"They also said no driver had returned (any handbag) to their Lost and Found section," she added.

Ms Suradi said the cabby was a Chinese man who looked to be in his 50s, had short hair and was wearing a light blue shirt.

When contacted by The New Paper, a Premier Taxis spokesman confirmed that they received a complaint from Ms Suradi about the loss of her handbag and belongings.

But he added there was no way of verifying her account without a licence plate number.

He said the company does not install GPS systems in their taxis, and their drivers do not keep records of passenger trips.

He added there were other silver-coloured taxis from other companies that Ms Suradi might have mistaken for a Silvercab.

A check with ComfortDelgro showed that they do not have silver-coloured taxis. SMRT said its Azera CNG taxis are silver but are not as common as its other cabs and fewer in number.

ComfortDelgro and SMRT are the two biggest taxi operators here.

But Ms Suradi insisted she had got into a Silvercab.

She has also made a police report. A spokesman said they are investigating.

The Premier Taxis spokesman said the company would not be compensating Ms Suradi for her losses. But he added that they would terminate the driver if he was found and proven to be guilty.

He also advised passengers to keep their belongings with them at all times throughout the taxi journey and to always ask for receipts in case of complications or mishaps.

- Nurul Asyikin Mohd Nasir and Samuel Wee, newsroom interns

This article was first published in The New Paper.