Duterte opposes charges for use of Beep card in EDSA Busway -Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte has opposed the imposition of charges for the use of Beep cards in the EDSA Busway rides, Malacañang said Monday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque made the statement a day after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) suspended the mandatory use of Beep cards after the consortium that operates the automatic fare collection system refused to give the cards for free to commuters.

“Ang pagkakaalam ko po ang naging damdamin ni Presidente ay tutol din siya diyan sa binabayaran na Beep card at marahil po isa ito sa dahilan kung bakit sinuspindi muna iyong paniningil para sa Beep card,” Roque said at a press briefing in Boracay.

“Nahabag po talaga ang Presidente doon sa isang balita na maraming mga naghihirap nating mga kababayan ang nagulat at dahil ang pera nila ay sapat lamang sa pamasahe at sa pagkain para sa araw na iyon.”

A dual payment system accepting beep and cash payments will be honored for the meantime, the DOTr said on Sunday.

“Itong pagsuspinde ng gamit ng Beep card altogether ay patunay na nakikinig ang gobyerno sa taumbayan at may puso itong administrasyon na ito,” Roque said.

The DOTr briefly implemented the “no Beep card, no ride” policy in public buses in an effort to reduce contact among passengers and drivers and reduce COVID-19 transmission.

However, many commuters were caught off guard on the first day of the cashless scheme's implementation and the P180 cost to acquire a card, which has an initial load of P100.

The DOTr over the weekend had threatened to suspend the use of the automatic fare collection system (AFCS) if operators continued to charge for the cards.

AF Payments Inc. — the consortium that operates Beep cards — said it earned nothing from the sale of the reloadable stored value cards as it was only selling at cost. The consortium said the P80 goes directly to the card manufacturer.

The DOTr said the EDSA Bus Consortia would look for another AFCS provider who can offer a “better solution.”—AOL, GMA News