Tollway operators warned of penalties, suspension over RFID mess

FILE: Nichols Toll Plaza, Southbound (Photo by Patrickroque01 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) warned tollway operators of penalties and possible suspension over violations of the implementing rules and regulations of cashless transactions in expressways.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, the TRB said its continuing operations and systems audit in enforcing cashless transactions in toll plazas has identified glitches that have been relayed to toll operators.

“These glitches, admitted by the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) Corp. to be happening, are not new to TRB management and were subject to notices to correct,” the TRB said.

To avoid penalties and possible suspension, it ordered toll operators to “aggressively pursue and consistently implement” measures that would fix issues with their radio frequency identification (RFID) systems and help ease traffic.

These include the immediate replacement of worn-out or defective RFID sensors, related RFID equipment, and RFID tags; relocation of RFID installation and reloading lanes that hamper traffic flow; maintenance or upgrade of systems software; enhancing traffic management, and improving customer service.

Following the suspension of the business permit of the NLEx Corp. by Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian on Monday, the TRB said the matter is “between the City of Valenzuela and the NLEx operator.”

“We have been assured that this is being given appropriate attention and hoped to be resolved very soon,” the board said.

Earlier, the NLEx Corp. said it would seek “a series of dialogues” with Gatchalian after the revocation of their business permit in Valenzuela City over heavy traffic caused by the implementation of cashless toll transactions.

The revocation of the permit forced the company to waive toll fees in its toll gates in the city, specifically the Karuhatan-Mindanao Avenue Toll Plaza, Karuhatan-Harborlink Toll Plaza, Karuhatan-MacArthur Highway Sub-Exit, Mindanao Avenue Toll Plaza, Paso de Blas Toll Plaza North Bound, Paso de Blas Toll Plaza South Bound, and Lawang Bato Toll Booth.