NLEX to submit ‘clear, concrete’ plan to Valenzuela Mayor Gatchalian to address RFID mess

NLEX Corporation, the operator of North Luzon Expressway, said Thursday it will submit a concrete plan of action to the city government of Valenzuela to resolve issues on the implementation of RFID cashless payment scheme.

In a statement, NLEX Corp. said it had received on Wednesday the letter of Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian which stated the requirements to lift the suspension of  its business permits in the city.

The company’s statement came on the heels of Gatchalian’s announcement that the dialogue between the city government of Valenzuela and NLEX Corp. was postponed due to a supposed “threat” of the tollway operator to file a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the suspension of its business permit. 

NLEX Corp.'s business permit was suspended by the Valenzuela government on Monday due to the unresolved issues on the RFID cashless payment mess.

Gatchalian said the duration of the suspension of the business permit would depend on how soon NLEX will act on the complaints against them.

“As stated in our previous communications with him, we have prepared our action plans to address these concerns. We will reply to the letter indicating our clear and concrete solutions by today, December 10th,” NLEX Corp. said.

“The said conditions entail specific solutions to various traffic-causing problems such as ‘RFID stickers that easily wear out, sensors that cannot promptly read RFID stickers, and missing load’,” it added.

The tollway operator committed to transfer the existing RFID sticker installation and account reloading in the Karuhatan and Mindanao toll plazas effective immediately in order to improve traffic flow in the nearby areas.

“NLEX management is one with the Valenzuela City government and other Metro Manila LGUs and the MMDA in taking concrete steps to alleviate the daily heavy traffic congestion in the metropolis, specially as we approach the Christmas season,” the company said.

“The first day of the full implementation of cashless and contactless transactions... combined with the surge of Manila-bound commuters, seasonal build-up, and lifting of truck ban and number coding scheme caused inconvenience and delays,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Toll Regulatory Board said its audit team has yet to complete its analysis about the factors that went wrong on the initial implementation of the cashless toll collection policy.

Asked if the TRB was partly to blame for the RFID fiasco, TRB Executive Director Abraham Sales said, “I think the other operators are being praised. [They] continue to improve their system while the TRB, even with the limited personnel, is pushing for an efficient system.” — RSJ, GMA News