Lawmakers warn toll road operators over RFID mess

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers from both houses of Congress yesterday warned toll road operators to fix the implementation of the radio frequency identification (RFID) system, which has caused massive gridlocks at toll plazas.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian called for the review of the concession agreement between the government and toll operators over issues of poor performance and other possible violations in the implementation of the RFID scheme.

Gatchalian warned toll road companies that their concessions could be revoked as he is set to initiate this week a review of what he said were lapses, including malfunctioning RFID sensors at toll plazas, before the implementation of cashless transactions last Dec. 1 that contributed to heavy traffic along expressways in the past days.

The senator cited reports on defective RFID sensors such as the case of those traversing the interchange on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) leading to Valenzuela City.

He also hit the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), which regulates the operation and maintenance of toll facilities, for failing to lift a finger in the wake of numerous complaints from motorists.

Gatchalian cited implementing rules and regulations (IRR) signed by the TRB last Oct. 5 on Department of Transportation (DOTr) Order 2020-12 requiring cashless or contactless transactions for all vehicles traveling on toll expressways.

The IRR states that toll operators are required to “ensure at all times the efficient operation and maintenance of the toll collection facility.”

The TRB obligated toll road companies to act on motorists’ complaints within three business days from the time of referral or filing of the complaint; failure to do so without any justifiable reason shall automatically result in the resolution of the issue in motorists’ favor.

The IRR also provides for the imposition of a penalty against toll road companies for non-compliance with the policy of the TRB.

“Such is an utter display of callousness to the plight of motorists, who, because of technical glitches and apparent inaction of concerned authorities, get stuck in traffic for hours,” Gatchalian said.

“It’s all over the news, that snags in the installation of RFID stickers prior to and especially on the day of the start of the cashless toll collection resulted in the high volume of cars along the expressways. This has been happening for several days now. Had there been any clear sign or action from the concerned parties in resolving this monstrous traffic jam? None,” added.

The public was expecting concerned agencies like the DOTr to act quickly on the matter “but obviously no one is taking the lead,” according to the senator.

“Toll road operators have the temerity to exact fees from the public without any commensurate services. It’s deplorable, to say the least,” Gatchalian said.

In August, the transportation department ordered the mandatory use of RFID to lessen human contact and prevent the transmission of the coronavirus.

‘Miserable failure’

As the senator’s call for review developed, the NLEX Corp. is facing revocation of its business permit from Valenzuela City over what Mayor Rex Gatchalian said was the company’s “miserable failure” to carry out the RFID system that resulted in worsening traffic condition on the major thoroughfare.

Gatchalian had earlier given NLEX Corp. until last Saturday to come up with an action plan to resolve the mess, but NLEX Corp. president and general manager Luigi Bautista asked for 15 days to respond to the concerns raised.

The mayor, however, rejected NLEX Corp.’s plea, saying “its response fell short of providing concrete action.”

“You had years to fix it, but did not … Saying that Dec. 1 (was) the date of reckoning clearly is not factual. The malfunctioning of the RFID has been there for long; it was when minority of your lanes were RFID that not all glitches were noticed,” Gatchalian said in mixed English and Filipino, addressing NLEX Corp.

He added that they could no longer wait for another 15 days with the situation “already taking its toll on the economic, mental and general well-being” of his constituents.

A public apology to the riding public, including a toll holiday, should be in place, while the road toll firm fixes its RFID system, according to the mayor.

“No asking of payment until they properly deliver the services at their toll plazas,” he said.

‘Reasonable period’

In a letter dated Dec. 5, Bautista requested Gatchalian that the tollway company be given a “reasonable period” of 15 days within which to respond to the concerns raised by the mayor.

“As you are aware, we commenced the implementation of the 100-percent RFID program only last Tuesday, Dec. 1, as mandated by the DOTr Department Order 2020-12…,” Bautista said.

“We have already mobilized the relevant teams to submit their findings and recommendations,” he added.

In a letter dated Dec. 3 addressed to NLEX Corp. chief operating officer Raul Ignacio, Gatchalian officially filed a complaint and final demand against the toll operator for the company’s “abysmal” RFID system, which he called as the “same terrible system seven years ago.”

Gatchalian said the company’s RFID system and toll booths have caused unusually heavy traffic in Valenzuela City since the implementation of full cashless toll collection last week.

In the letter, NLEX was given 24 hours within which to submit an action plan on its RFID 100 program as well as a period of 72 hours to explain why its business permit from Valenzuela City should not be suspended for failing to comply with its obligations.

As an initial step, NLEX asked Gatchalian that the company be given the opportunity to conduct a structured observation visit together with TRB representatives.

“This may provide the venue by which we can collectively look at both the concerns and challenges at this very early stage of RFID contactless and cashless implementation in the entire NLEX/SCTEX network,” Bautista said.

“Please be assured of our commitment to render the service our expressway customers all deserve. We trust that you will give this request your favorable action,” he said.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. had earlier said the heavy traffic during the first day of implementation of the 100-percent cashless toll scheme on Dec. 1 was brought about by the surge of motorists following a long weekend.

The company also reported that 35,000 motorists who have insufficient load used its expressways on Monday last week, with the processing of their reload requests resulting in long queues at toll plazas.

Defer cashless toll, DOTr told

Meanwhile, administration lawmakers yesterday called on the DOTr to defer its order implementing cashless toll payments on expressways at least until after persistent errors on RFID tags have been fully solved.

Representatives Wes Gatchalian of Valenzuela and Alfred delos Santos of Ang Probinsiyano party-list cited the monstrous traffic jams created by the failure of RFID sensors to read the tags following the DOTr’s order to have a cashless system by Dec. 1.

Gatchalian, who chairs the trade and industry committee of the House of Representatives, said the RFID implementation should be postponed indefinitely until the RFID systems of toll operators Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) become “interoperable.”

“Implementing the cashless payment scheme without interoperability will only create more problems for our motoring public. We are asking for a longer period of installation because we don’t want the motoring public to go out all at the same time,” he added.

Delos Santos, on the other hand, called on tollways regulators who exercise power over MPTC and SMC – operators of NLEX and South Luzon Expressway, respectively – to “rethink” the RFID implementation primarily because this is “too burdensome for motorists.”

“We fully support this policy of the DOTr, but as much as we support this policy, we have to think of other considerations as well. This is because these two RFID systems are incompatible with one another,” the neophyte administration lawmaker said, noting that the current setup of having two separate sets of RFID systems “is creating confusion and burdensome to motorists.”

“For our motorists who seldom use the expressways, this is confusing and very hard to say the least,” he added. –  Rey Galupo, Richmond Mercurio, Delon Porcalla