Toll Regulatory Board to adopt 3-strike policy vs. RFID lane violators

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) will be adopting a three-strike policy against motorists who keep using toll roads with no load or not enough load in their RFIDs, a top official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday.

At a virtual press briefing, Transportation Undersecretary for Finance and alternate chairman for the TRB Garry De Guzman cited statistics from toll roads operators showing that there are motorists who abuse the no-apprehension policy for those who are still not complying with the no-cash collection policy in tollways.

“Sa cashless transaction, alam natin na dinefer natin ‘yung full implementation in the sense na pagka wala ka pang RFID and you want to use tollways you will still be allowed. Hindi ka pa huhulihin halimbawang pumasok ka at wala ka pang RFID sticker o wala kang load,” De Guzman said.

“Marami ang nag-aabuso... pumapasok sila na walang load... Mayroong 50 times, 200 times pumapasok walang load so napagkasunduan sa TRB na will conduct massive information campaign,” he said.

The DOTr official added that Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade ordered the TRB to adopt a “three-strike policy” against RFID violators.

“Maga-adopt na kami ng three-strike policy kumbaga kapag naka [three] strikes ka na na pumapasok ng RFID lanes na wala ka namang load huhulihin ka na,” de Guzman said.

He said that on the first offense, motorists will be reminded to ensure they have sufficient loads in their RFID accounts.

On the second offense, the motorist will be issued a warning.

“Sa third offense, huhulihin ka na and ia-apply sayo ang mga penalties,” De Guzman said.

While he did not elaborate on the penalties to be imposed, entering RFID toll plazas without sufficient load could fall under Disregarding Traffic Signs, which has a fine of P1,000 since a motorist will have disregarded the electronic toll collection sign.

“Dito madidisiplina ang tao na mag-load before pumasok ng RFID lanes para hindi maka-abala sa mga compliant RFID users,” De Guzman said. — BM, GMA News