A 60-year-old food delivery rider in Singapore who sought damages following a collision with a car in August 2022 was awarded S$5,932 on Aug. 20, 2024.

Mohamed Akbar Bin Ibrahim won the case despite it being revealed in court that he had not been declaring his income or paying taxes, according to a magistrate's court judgment.

He said that he was not aware that only those earning below S$20,000 per year need not declare their income.

Sued car driver for costs incurred following collision

On Aug. 16, 2022, Akbar was involved in a collision with a car driven by Tan Geok Yee, where he was thrown off his motorcycle upon impact.

He was taken to Changi General Hospital, where he was found to have fractured his right shoulder and left thumb, and suffered multiple abrasions.

Akbar was initially given 59 days of medical leave from Aug. 16 to Nov. 4, 2022 but went back to work from Sep. 5 to support his family despite still "encountering pain".

He has since regained full range of motion in his shoulder and thumb, and permanent disability is not expected.

Akbar had sought damages from Tan and was claiming loss of earnings for the 18 days of medical leave when he did not work.

He sought damages of S$6,358, to cover for injuries, medical and transport costs, based on a figure of S$180 a day.

He had also supplemented his claim with weekly earning statements as a food delivery rider from Grab Holdings Inc indicating his income from Jun. 26 to Nov. 20, 2022.

The amount was initially adjusted to S$9,000 to account for inflation while Tan's lawyers had argued that S$2,000 was enough.

"I have never paid income tax as I do not have CPF"

According to the judgment, Tan's lawyers had cross-examined Akbar's failure to declare his income to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and pay taxes accordingly in 2022.

Only those earning a total annual income of less than S$22,000 need not pay income tax, but Akbar said he did not know about this.

Upon questioning, he said that he had not declared his income as he was a daily-rated worker and "did not have CPF (Central Provident Fund)".

Tan's lawyers argued that Akbar presenting his average gross income of S$235 a day "cannot be accepted" as this would mean that he had earned over S$61,500 for the year.

Akbar's lawyer rejected the argument, saying that any failure to report his income or to pay his income tax was between him and IRAS.

District Judge Andre Sim Jun Yi said that while the evidence presented was "somewhat unfortunate", it was also clear that Akbar had suffered losses that "ought to be compensated for meaningfully".

He also highlighted that Akbar had presented his statement of earnings under Grab as objective evidence.

However, Sim noted that the amount of S$235 per day claimed by Akbar could not be used as it did not account for his expenses.

Instead, he applied a "discount of 50 per cent for expenses" given the limited evidence and used an average net income figure of S$117.87 per day for his calculations.

Akbar was then awarded a total of S$5,932 in damages with interest.

Sim also dismissed the argument about Akbar's alleged tax evasion as he was only judging Akbar's case for pre-trial loss of earnings.

He said any "alleged non-compliance with tax regulations is a matter for the relevant authorities to investigate, if they deem necessary".

Top photos via Grab & Mothership