Indian-origin employment agency owner in Singapore fined for overcharging workers

A 51-year-old Indian-origin man running an employment agency here was fined USD 12,638 (SGD 17,300) for overcharging foreign workers and related offences.

The court on Thursday also ordered Gulab Singh to compensate the affected workers.

Singh, a licensee of IBS Consulting Services, was convicted of overcharging SGD 1,664 (USD 1,215) from two foreign workers between September 2017 and June 2018, reported Channel News Asia on Friday.

He had also received SGD 5,284 (USD 3,860) from another foreign worker as a financial guarantee for employment, said the Ministry of Manpower (MoM).

The ministry said Gulab Singh also failed to issue an itemised receipt to a foreign worker after receiving the employment agency fee.

The ministry will revoke his employment agency licence.

"Overcharging EA (employment agency) fee and collecting kickbacks from foreign workers are egregious offences. A fee cap is in place to prevent excessive agency fee," said Commissioner for Employment Agencies Kevin Teoh.

"We will not hesitate to prosecute the EAs, including permanently barring them from the industry," the official said.

Foreign workers who are pressured into giving kickbacks, or face problems with their employment agencies, should seek help immediately from the ministry or the Migrant Workers' Centre, the ministry said.

The origins of foreign workers were not stated in the report.

Most of the foreign workers in Singapore's labour-intensive industries are from regional countries, including India.