Bogart Malls v Enets: Payment Gateway Services & Breach of Contract Dispute

Bogart Malls Pte Ltd and eTrust Processing Pte Ltd sued Enets Pte Ltd in the High Court of Singapore, alleging breach of contract for payment gateway services. The plaintiffs claimed losses due to an outage in Enets' systems, resulting in a shortfall of payments from American Express. Yeong Zee Kin SAR dismissed the plaintiffs' applications for judgment on admission, finding that a trial was necessary to determine the precise scope of services under the Bank Connect Services agreement.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Plaintiffs’ applications for judgment on admission dismissed.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Bogart Malls sues Enets for breach of contract over payment gateway services. The court dismissed Bogart's application for judgment on admission, requiring a trial.

1.7 Decision Date

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party NameRoleTypeOutcomeOutcome TypeCounsels
Bogart Malls Pte LtdPlaintiffCorporationApplication DismissedDismissed
Enets Pte LtdDefendantCorporationApplication WonWon
eTrust Processing Pte LtdPlaintiffCorporationApplication DismissedDismissed

3. Judges

Judge NameTitleDelivered Judgment
Yeong Zee KinSAR CounselYes

4. Counsels

Counsel NameOrganization
Daniel KohEldan Law LLP
Jasmine ChanEldan Law LLP
Christopher James de SouzaWongPartnership LLP
Lionel Leo Zhen WeiWongPartnership LLP
Kevin OngWongPartnership LLP

4. Facts

  1. Plaintiffs provide software consultancy and online payment solutions.
  2. Plaintiffs entered into Bank Connect Services agreements with the Defendant.
  3. Defendant provides payment gateway services.
  4. There was an outage in the Defendant’s systems between 4 and 28 December 2009.
  5. The outage resulted in a shortfall of payments to the Plaintiffs from American Express.
  6. The Defendant conducted an internal audit that identified a design error in its systems.
  7. The Defendant’s system design failed to account for time zone differences.

5. Formal Citations

  1. Bogart Malls Pte Ltd v Enets Pte Ltd, Suit No 493 of 2012 and Suit No 495 of 2012, [2014] SGHCR 7

6. Timeline

DateEvent
Outage in Defendant’s systems began
Outage in Defendant’s systems ended
Defendant sent letter to American Express International Inc
Writs filed
Judgment reserved

7. Legal Issues

  1. Breach of Contract
    • Outcome: The court did not make a determination on the breach of contract claim, as it dismissed the application for judgment on admission and required a trial to ascertain the facts.
    • Category: Substantive
    • Sub-Issues:
      • Failure to perform contractual obligations
      • Omission of transactional records
  2. Judgment on Admission
    • Outcome: The court dismissed the application for judgment on admission, finding that a trial was necessary to determine the precise scope of services under the Bank Connect Services agreement.
    • Category: Procedural

8. Remedies Sought

  1. Monetary Damages

9. Cause of Actions

  • Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

  • Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

  • Technology
  • Finance

12. Cited Cases

Case NameCourtAffirmedCitationJurisdictionSignificance
Vithal Kumar a/l Jayaraman v Azman bin Md NorUnknownYes[2010] 2 MLJ 67MalaysiaCited as an example where the admission relied upon was contained in an agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant.
Shunmugam Jayakumar v Jeyaretnam Joshua BenjaminUnknownYes[1996] 2 SLR(R) 658SingaporeCited as an example where the admissions were contained in letters from the defendant addressed to the plaintiff.
Rankin v Garton Sons & Co LtdUnknownYes[1979] 2 All ER 1185England and WalesCited as an example where the admissions were contained in letters from the defendant addressed to the plaintiff.
Hasrat Usaha Sdn Bhd v Pati Sdn BhdUnknownYes[2011] 3 MLJ 343MalaysiaCited as an example where the admissions were contained in letters from the defendant addressed to the plaintiff.
Ellis v AllenUnknownYes[1914] 1 Ch 904England and WalesCited as an example where the admissions were contained in letters from the defendant addressed to the plaintiff.
Blundell v RimmerUnknownYes[1971] 1 WLR 123England and WalesCited as an example where the admissions were contained in letters from the defendant addressed to the plaintiff.
Ow Chor Seng, Coutts Bank (Schweiz) AGUnknownYes[2002] 1 SLR(R) 380SingaporeCited as an example where the admissions can be contained in the pleadings.
Ong Gim Huat v Toh Suan Lin AmyUnknownYes[1992] 2 MLJ 610MalaysiaCited as an example where the admissions can be contained in the pleadings.
Core Development Ptd Ltd v Ideal Accomodation (Singapore) Pte LtdHigh Court of SingaporeYes[2009] SGHC 167SingaporeCited as an example where the admissions can be contained in the pleadings.
British Thomson-Houston Co Ltd v British Insulated and Helsby Cables LtdUnknownYes[1924] 2 Ch 160England and WalesCited regarding oral evidence adduced by a party in one set of proceedings cannot be tendered as admissions by that same party in a subsequent set of proceedings
Tom Manas Enterprise v Soh Ah WahUnknownYes[1995] 2 AMR 1751MalaysiaCited regarding the admission may be made before or after the commencement of proceedings
Carabao Exports v Online Management ConsultantsUnknownYes[1988] 3 MLJ 271MalaysiaCited regarding the admission must be a clear admission of all, and not simply evidence of some, of the facts upon which the plaintiff would have to rely to establish his cause of action

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute NameJurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

  • Payment Gateway Services
  • Bank Connect Services
  • Settlement Reports
  • Outage
  • Design Error
  • Merchant Agreement
  • American Express
  • Admin Portal
  • Payment Broadcast Service

15.2 Keywords

  • payment gateway
  • breach of contract
  • enets
  • bogart malls
  • settlement reports
  • singapore
  • civil case

17. Areas of Law

Area NameRelevance Score
Payment Gateway Services80
Breach of Contract75
Contract Law70
Settlement Reports70
Commercial Law65
Summary Judgement50

16. Subjects

  • Contract Dispute
  • Payment Gateway Services
  • Civil Litigation