MANILA, Philippines – House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Monday called on the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to further extend the deadline for installing radio-frequency (RFID) tags on vehicles under the cashless payment system amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, Velasco noted that all 6.1 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and CALABARZON may not be provided with RFID stickers by January 11, 2021 as set by the DOTr.

He said the DOTr should also consider the fact that the pandemic has constrained many vehicle owners from leaving their homes to have these RFID stickers installed.

“It would be more practicable if the deadline is further extended to March 31, 2021 to give all our motorists enough time to secure the stickers for the cashless payment system given that we are still in a pandemic where movement of people is limited,” he said.

Velasco made the call as tollways experienced gridlock upon the implementation of cashless payment last December 1.

The House Speaker also shared the observations made during the hearing of the  House Committee on Transportation last November 25 in anticipation of the problems that could arise from the implementation of the cashless payment scheme at tollways.

Velasco said that the committee estimated it would take more than two years for all vehicles using the tollways to be provided with the RFID tags.

Transportation Committee chairman Rep. Edgar Sarmiento also noted that Thailand and Indonesia took a year and a half on average to be fully cashless.

“In comparison, it’s been barely five months from the issuance of the (DOTr’s) Department Order 2020-012 since the implementation of cashless payment,” Sarmiento said.

“The concerned agencies should have ensured first the feasibility of going cashless in the amount of time given to vehicle owners,” Velasco said.

“Instead, the implementation on Dec. 1 looked like a dry-run. This defeats the purpose of having our tollways becoming efficient in going cashless,” he added.

The DOTr earlier urged toll operators to open more off-site installation sites to provide more avenues for people to have their RFIDs installed.

MANILA, Philippines — The full implementation of cashless transactions in all major expressways in the country is all set for December 1.

This means all tollways will no longer accept cash payment in line with the government’s effort to curb the transmission of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

This is the reason why motorists are encouraged to secure RFID stickers as early as possible.

Motorists using the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx) and the Cavite–Laguna Expressway (CALAEx) are required to have the Easy Trip RFID sticker.

Meanwhile, motorists plying the Skyway, South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway (NAIAx), Star Tollway and the Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEX) are required to have the Autosweep RFID sticker.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) clarified however, that the December 1 deadline is set only for tollway operators and it does not apply to motorists.

“Iyong pagkakabit po kasi ng RFID stickers ay magpapatuloy kahit matapos na ang December 2020 lalo na para doon sa mga first time toll users sa mga bagong sasakyan,” said DOTr ASec. Goddess Hope Libiran.

“Kung puno na ang slots sa online appointment systems doon ka po sa tollgate kakabitan,” she added.

The DOTr will have a transition period for motorists to have ample time to adapt to the system.

From December 1 to January 11, 2021, motorists without RFID stickers will not be penalized even if they pass the tollways.

“After January 11 hindi na po lahat ng lanes sa tollgate ay pwedeng maconvert na stickering lane. Maari lang po silang ma-tiketan kung sila po ay pipila doon sa RFID only lane lalo na kung sila ay magdudulot po ng aberya o ng abala dun sa mga sasakyan na nasa likuran nila,” Libiran said.

As the deadline approaches, the DOTr will intensify its RFID installation making it operational 24/7 aside from the online appointments and special lanes so that more motorists will be able to avail.

Meanwhile, tollway operators advised motorists to refrain from purchasing RFID stickers online to avoid problems and make sure the stickers are installed properly.

“We’re just imposing few more controls because ang pagkakabit ng sticker by the customers themselves. We also found out medyo prone to mistakes. Sa dami po ng klase ng sasakyan natin meron pa ring margin of error na pagdating po natin sa toll lane magkakaproblema,” reminded Atty Romulo Quimbo Jr, MPTC Chief Communications Officer.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday announced that the start of the implementation of full cashless transactions on expressways has been moved from November 2 to December 1.

In an advisory, the DOTr said the enforcement of the 100% cashless transaction was pushed to a later date to give more time for motorists who have yet to install radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers on their vehicles.

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), an attached agency of the DOTr supervising toll road operations, earlier said that the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) and the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) have expressed readiness to implement cashless toll collections but have extended the installation of the RFID stickers beyond November 2.

But according to the DOTr, the deadline will no longer be extended beyond December 1.

Motorists who fail to conform to the government mandate will be apprehended and issued a citation ticket, it added.

DOTr Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven Pastor reminded motorists to make use of the extended deadline to have RFIDs installed in their vehicles as early as they can.

“Iwasan natin ‘yung kung kailan isang linggo na lang, tsaka tayo magmamadaling magpunta sa installation sites para magpakabit ng RFID. Now, we are extending the deadline to give further consideration. Let us use the extension wisely,” Pastor said.

The DOTr earlier issued Department Order 2020-012, which ordered the full implementation of cashless toll collections at expressways and major toll roads, in line with the government’s thrust to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and to avoid traffic congestion in toll plazas. – RRD (with details from Correspondent Joan Nano)