In case you missed it, Valenzuela City has suspended the NLEX Corporation’s business permit due to issues involving the tollway operator’s RFID-based cashless toll-collection system. This means until the company has complied with the local government’s requirements, it may not charge toll fees along the section of the expressway located in the city.
After the business-permit suspension took effect in the afternoon of December 8, however, some motorists complained that their Easytrip accounts—which serve as the mobile wallet for RFID-based toll collection along NLEX, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), Cavite-Manila Expressway (Cavitex), Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), and C5 South Link—had been charged toll when they passed through a toll plaza within Valenzuela City’s borders.
In an interview with TeleRadyo, Junji Quimbo, chief communication officer of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), explained that an RFID sensor in one lane of the toll plaza had not been deactivated “by accident,” which led to motorists passing through that lane to be charged toll.
“Yung isang lane po out of seven lanes, yung lane number four po, hindi po naisara by accident,” he said in the interview. “Nakalimutan lang.”
The sensor has since been deactivated.
Quimbo added that MPTC has already returned the accidentally charged load to the Easytrip accounts of affected motorists. “Inaksyunan namin kaagad,” he said. “Lahat ng mga dumaan dun na nabawasan, sinasauli na po namin ang mga load, binabalik na po sa account.
“Tinext na sila kahapon nung ating nangangasiwa ng mga load, tapos na-acknowledge po nila, yung kanilang statement of account—yun pong lumalabas po sa telepono—nare-reflect na po na naibalik na.”
As we reported yesterday, the NLEX Corporation has issued an ‘RFID 100’ action plan with which it aims to improve its cashless toll-collection system. New toll-plaza signage, too, will be used on NLEX and SCTEX to better facilitate the flow of traffic, especially for motorists who will be applying for RFID stickers at toll plazas.
But let’s go back to the matter of accidentally charged toll fees in Valenzuela City. Were you affected by this, and has your Easytrip load already been reimbursed? Let us know in the comments.
