Motorists gather at North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Balintawak Toll Plaza in this photo taken on October 18, to avail the radio frequency identification stickers. INQUIRER file photo / Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — The management of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. said Tuesday that some of the radio-frequency identification (RFID) stickers being used at toll gates are defective, citing reports from motorists.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) chief communications officer Romulo Quimbo said this was among the concerns raised by the NLEX Corp. in its letter to Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian on Monday. To recall, the city government earlier suspended the business permit of NLEX Corp. due to the heavy traffic that its cashless toll collection has been causing in the locality.
The MPTC manages NLEX.
“Ang isa pong rekomendasyon namin based doon sa sulat namin kahapon ay marami pong defective na RFID stickers. Pag sinabi pong defective, ‘yung iba po doon worn out, wear and tear, hindi maganda ang pagkakabit,” Quimbo said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.
(One of the issues we raised in our letter yesterday is that there are defective RFID stickers. When we say defective, some are worn out, have wear and tear damage, or were not properly installed.)
“Mabilis po nawala ‘yung kanyang chip, ‘yung sensors sa stickers, so nakita po namin sa records na nagkaroon kami ng reports ng mga motorista,” he added.
(We saw in our records that some motorists have reported that the chip was lost in the stickers.)
Quimbo said the NLEX Corp. has a sticker replacement program for motorists with defective stickers.
“Binabalikan po namin ‘yung customer na ‘yun. Pupuntahan po namin ‘yung mga motorista po. Karamihan po dito mga kumpanya, marami naman individuals. ‘Yung mga car owners po na may defective stickers, kinocontact po namin to let them know na dapat palitan na po ‘yung stickers nila,” he said.
(We get back to the customer. We go to the motorists. Most of them belong to companies, many are individuals. We also contact car owners with defective stickers to let them know that they should replace the stickers.)
He assured that appropriate measures are being undertaken to fix the glitch.