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Grocery vouchers, which were announced in the Unity Budget this year, have been mailed out to 150,000 eligible Singapore citizens since Oct. 1.

Unfortunately, there have been attempts by individuals to steal others' grocery vouchers, worth S$150, from their letterboxes.

Letterbox thefts

On Monday (Oct. 12), Radin Mas Constituency shared a message from the Bukit Merah East Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC), warning residents of the thievery.

The post encouraged residents to collect their vouchers from their letterboxes if they had not yet done so, and ensure that they secure their letterboxes after checking for the letters.

Residents should also call the police if they spot any "suspicious character" loitering at the letterbox area.

On Tuesday (Oct. 11) morning, SingPost was made aware that a number of letterboxes in the Redhill area had been forcibly pried open and vandalised, with scratches, dents and other signs of tampering found on them.

SingPost's emergency response crew found that the doors of some letterboxes were left ajar, but the masterdoors of all nine letterbox nests were locked and secure.

What to do if your vouchers have been stolen

According to the FAQs about the grocery vouchers, the vouchers were sent by mail for the convenience of eligible recipients, and to prevent crowding at Community Clubs/ Centres due to the Covid-19 situation.

The Ministry of Finance said that necessary precautions have been taken to mitigate potential theft, by sending the vouchers via registered mail, which is tracked.

If a recipient has "strong reasons" to suspect that their voucher has been stolen, they should immediately make a police report.

After the police report has been made, they can contact the hotline for grocery vouchers at 1800-2222-888 to request for their voucher to be voided and replaced.

Voided vouchers cannot be redeemed.

Subsequently, People’s Association (PA) will contact them about their re-issuance request and make the necessary arrangements for them to collect their replacement voucher in-person at their nearby Community Club/ Centre.

A copy of their NRIC and police report will be retained by PA as supporting documents for their reissue request.

Grocery vouchers to help "less well-off Singaporeans"

The grocery vouchers aim to "help less well-off Singaporeans with their household expenses during this period of extraordinary economic uncertainty," according to MOF.

All Singaporeans who meet the following criteria will receive their vouchers via the mail:

• Aged 21 and above this year
• Lives in a 1- or 2-room HDB flat
• Does not own more than one property

No application is required.

Each eligible household member will receive their vouchers individually, via registered mail at their NRIC-registered address.

Each recipient will receive S$150 worth of grocery vouchers in Oct. 2020, and a further S$150 in Dec. 2020.

Another round of S$100 worth of grocery vouchers will be issued to eligible Singaporeans next year, in Oct. 2021.

The vouchers can be used at participating supermarkets FairPrice, Giant, Prime Supermarket, and Sheng Siong, and are valid until Dec. 31, 2021.

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Top photos via Facebook / Loida Vincine and SingPost.