Senate urges DOTr to suspend 100% cashless RFID system

The Senate on Monday adopted a resolution strongly urging the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to suspend the implementation of 100% cashless payments in tollways after glitches in the radio-frequency identification (RFID) system caused traffic jams in several expressways linked to Metro Manila.

Senate Resolution No. 596, sponsored by Senator Grace Poe, states that the DOTr should "immediately suspend" the execution of Department Order No. 2020-12, its implementing rules and regulations, and all related issuances.

The department order was signed on August 13, 2020 and took full effect last December 1 when all toll operators had been required to implement a 100% cashless payment scheme in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Senate resolution however urged that the system be suspended while complaints against the cashless transactions in toll plazas remained unsolved.

"Cashless transactions in our expressways are indeed ideal. Especially in this time of pandemic, I dare say that it is a necessity. However, effective policies are not borne out of good intentions alone," Poe said.

"Department Order 2020-12 does not seem to take into account the preparedness of our toll expressway service providers to comply with such an order. It is being hounded by various issues concerning its implementation. Ang ending, taumbayan na naman ang naperwisyo," she added.

The resolution also urged the DOTr to allow cash lanes in consideration of first-time users; remove penalties for insufficient cash balances; and impose a deadline for the interoperability of Autosweep and Easytrip before a deadline on the transition to cashless transactions is imposed.

Poe took particular note of the RFID mess at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) which prompted the Valenzuela City government to suspend the business permit of NLEX Corporation earlier this month.

"Kung hindi pa kumilos ang local government ng Valenzuela, si Mayor Rex Gatchalian, kapatid ng kasamahan natin dito ay hindi pa siguro kikilos rin ang Toll Regulatory Board o ang DOTr. Pinagsasabong pa natin ang concessionaire at ang local government," she said.

"Fellow senators, before the year ends, let us ease the burden caused by the foregoing issuances on our fellow Filipinos," she added.

Before adoption, Senator Pia Cayetano clarified if the cashless system in all expressways should be suspended, considering that some operators were able to launch the RFID without causing traffic jams.

"In the South, they are doing quite well... There's no imposition for them to stop that system because it's already in place unless the DOTr says all cashless systems will be suspended. I think, subject to style, we should clarify the wording of this resolution so as not to disrupt the ones that are already working properly," Poe said in response.

Earlier in the day, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian warned that the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) can revoke the government's concession agreements with under-performing tollway operators.

Meanwhile, the TRB said cash lanes had been reopened in expressways to prevent traffic jams during the transition period.

The Senate committee on public services will conduct a hearing on the RFID mess on December 17. — DVM, GMA News