Technical issues in cashless toll collection are ‘birth pains’ — NLEX Corp.

Photo from Mayor Rex Gatchalian Facebook account

MANILA, Philippines — The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. said that the mandatory cashless transaction system using radio-frequency identification (RFID) “has experienced birth pains,” which caused technical issues.

NLEX Corp. said “the tollway company acknowledges the mandated 100% cashless toll implementation has experienced birth pains that unfortunately resulted in technical problems in some instances.”

“These glitches that are occurring at the toll booths are simply a result of some adjustments that should be expected because the RFID implementation took effect only eight days ago,” NLEX Corp. President J. Luigi Bautista said in a statement on Monday.

He assured that the tollway company will implement “several measures” to resolve the issues on the cashless transaction system that were raised by the Valenzuela City government.

“We are working to eliminate the inconvenience caused to our customers by the new compulsory tollway cashless transaction system using RFID that is required by the Department Order of the Department of Transportation (DOTr),” Bautista also said.

On Monday, the Valenzuela City government suspended the business permit of NLEX Corp. due to the heavy traffic that its cashless toll collection has been causing in the locality.

Bautista assured that the firm will continue to pursue a series of consultations and dialogues with the Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian “in good faith.”

NLEX Corp. also said that concerns being raised on the toll collection system “are being heard and being addressed as a top priority,” and that it is “accelerating the solutions to make it more convenient for the public to adjust to the new RFID system.”

JPV