MANILA — A lawmaker has called on the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to consider penalizing tollway operators for defective radio frequency identification (RFID) readers, which have been blamed for causing traffic congestion at toll plazas. Camarines Sur 2nd District Representative Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. made the appeal on Friday, urging operators to address issues with their electronic toll collection systems before imposing fines on motorists who enter highways without functioning RFID tags or with insufficient account balances.
According to Philippines News Agency, the TRB should take punitive action against tollway operators for maintaining equipment that fails to read their own RFID stickers or the actual account balances. He emphasized that while motorists without RFID tags or with zero balances contribute to long queues at toll booths, a larger issue is the widespread problem of defective or unreadable RFID stickers, which forces travelers to manually present their toll account e-cards to booth staff, further exacerbating traffic congestion.
Villafuerte also urged the TRB, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to indefinitely suspend the planned imposition of penalties against motorists with RFID-related violations until tollway operators resolve the issue of defective RFID readers and stickers. He argued that it is unfair to penalize motorists for RFID violations while allowing tollway operators to escape accountability for the defective systems that also contribute to traffic delays.
Numerous complaints have been raised by RFID-compliant motorists regarding unreadable RFID devices, which compel toll booth staff to manually check e-cards, causing significant delays. In response, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista has postponed the implementation of new tollway guidelines until October 1, allowing toll operators additional time to improve their operations.
Villafuerte expressed hope that the 30-day deferment would be used effectively by the concerned agencies and tollway operators to fine-tune their systems and enhance public information campaigns, ensuring that motorists can comply with the new guidelines.
The Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2024-01, once implemented, will impose penalties on motorists lacking installed RFID devices or with insufficient RFID balances. The penalties range from PHP500 for the first offense to PHP5,000 for repeated violations. These measures are intended to ensure a smoother traffic flow at toll plazas, according to the TRB.