Suspend cashless toll collection, Valenzuela lawmaker asks DOTr

MANILA, Philippines — Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian wants the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to stop the implementation of the cashless toll collection system until operators resolve the glitches in their radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, which have caused heavy traffic in the past few days.

Gatchalian made the call after Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian threatened to suspend the NLEx Corp.’s business permit for its “RFID fiasco.”

“I urge the DOTr to act swiftly in postponing the implementation of the [cashless toll collection], in behalf of our consumers, the motoring public, whose hardship in the long queue for the installation and now suffering in the horrendous traffic due to inoperable booths and unreadable stickers,” the lawmaker said.

In a statement on Saturday, he said: “Let us reassess where the flaw and gridlock in the system lies, improve and resume until the operations are ready and fully functional.”

He made the remarks a day after his brother, the city mayor, gave NLEx Corp. an ultimatum to solve the RFID glitches that caused heavy traffic in North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), part of which runs through Valenzuela City.

The city mayor asked the company to submit an explanation to the city government on its “miserable failure to comply with your obligations.”

Earlier this week, NLEx Corp. rolled out its RFID at toll booths to shift to cashless transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

—With a report from Nikka G. Valenzuela