FREE RFID A motorist installs a radio frequency identification (RFID) sticker. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

By March 15, all the vehicles passing through expressways must be equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) for cashless payment of toll fees or else they will be penalized.

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), in a recent advisory, said it was reimplementing next month the cashless/contactless transactions program to ease the congestion at the toll plazas.

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The regulator clarified motor vehicles without valid RFID sticker would still be allowed to enter the toll lane but motorists should install it at the designated space after the toll plaza or nearest installation site.

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However, a personnel of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will issue a temporary operator’s permit or a show-cause order against the motorists found in violation of the policy. The erring motorists will also be “meted with corresponding penalties,” the TRB said.

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Under the circular, motorists who violate the “No RFID, No Entry” rule will be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second, and P2,500 for each subsequent offense.

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The Department of Transportation (DOTr), LTO and TRB directed the tollway operators and RFID service providers to establish more RFID installation sites and provide several modes of loading the motorists’ account balances.

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The regulators stressed the installation of RFID sticker is free and no maintaining balance is required.

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TRB said “subscribers may load the exact amount of toll fees needed to travel along the toll expressway.”

The tollway operators must also meet the minimum performance standards and specifications to ensure smooth operation of the cashless program. TRB said they could be penalized as well if they failed to do so.

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The toll plazas must have 98-percent readability rate for all motorists passing through.

Readability refers to automatic detection of RFID stickers while account management deals with accurate charging of toll fees, crediting of load to accounts and updating of account balance information, among others.

The tollway operators, in a joint statement, expressed their support for the government’s cashless initiative.

Only 3% without RFID

“This policy plays a key role in easing traffic at toll plazas, improving safety and convenience for motorists, and optimizing expressway operations,” said the companies led by San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and government agencies with interest in expressway operations.

The toll concessionaires said 97 percent of the motorists were already equipped with RFID stickers, encouraging the remaining 3 percent to switch to cashless payments.

Unemployment among young people and college graduates jumped from 13.2% in June to 17.1% in July, as some 12 million students entered the labour market, before the August figure rose to its highest level since the National Bureau of Statistics decided to change the methodology to not include students in December 2023.

The TRB started conducting a dry run for the contactless toll collection back in September 2023.

The DOTr previously issued an order in 2020 requiring cashless or contactless transactions via RFID stickers as it sought to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19.

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Due to complaints arising from glitches in the electronic toll collection system, however858 play, the department issued an addendum permitting vehicles with no RFID stickers to use the tollways and requiring cash lanes in all toll plazas.

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