LOOMING SHORTAGE. Riders of rail transits in the Metro Manila may not get their hands on Beep Cards as Department of Transportation warns of its shortage due to limited supply of materials overseas. (Photo by Raffy Lerma)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday said there is a looming Beep Card shortage as demand increases once the rail transit system becomes fully normalized.
DOTr Undersecretary for Rails Cesar Chavez, in a letter addressed to public transport operators of Light Rail Transits 1 and 2 (LRT-1 and 2) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3), said they should brace for an expected shortage of beep cards due to shortage of worldwide production of chips, affecting the availability of cards to rail line commuters.
In a statement, DOTr cited the “limited access to special gasses from Russia to manufacture NXP chips, the lingering repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic in major manufacturing hubs such as China, and increased shipment and logistics costs due to the global economic downturn as factors contributing to the supply shortage of stored value cards. (SVCs).”
Because of this, the Transportation Department said Beep Card provider AF Payments Inc. could not fulfill the delivery of 75,000 SVCs for July 2022 “despite its repeated and diligent coordination with card suppliers abroad.”
The DOTr, then, has directed all PTOs to make the necessary adjustments in controlling the sale of SVCs and “exert their best efforts in communicating the same to their rail commuters.”