POE: GIVE MOTORISTS PROMPT RESPITE FROM CHAOTIC CASHLESS TOLL SYSTEM

Sen. Grace Poe has urged the temporary suspension of cashless transactions in tollways and asked the Department of Transportation to adjust the system to ease the burden of motorists who have suffered enough in the past weeks from its chaotic rollout.

In her sponsorship speech of Senate Resolution 596 signed by 14 senators, the chairperson of the Senate public services committee sought for a temporary halt to the implementation of Department Order No. 2020-12 that requires cashless transactions in toll expressways.

"I am firmly putting forward a resolution that addresses a current situation that has proven to be extremely inconvenient and oppressive to all motorists going to and coming from Metro Manila and nearby provinces," Poe said.

"Hindi po ito patas para sa mga kababayan natin na handa namang sumunod. Kaya marapat lang na isuspinde muna ang implementasyon ng cashless o contactless transaction system sa mga expressway habang inihahanda ang mas maayos na sistema na totoong makatutulong sa mga motorista," she stressed.

According to the resolution, the department order and its implementing rules and regulations and all related issuances on toll expressways must be promptly suspended "pending the resolution of the complaints against the cashless or contactless transaction system."

It also seeks to "amend the said issuances to reflect the actions taken to improve implementation of cashless or contactless transactions on all limited access facilities."

Poe's panel will conduct a hearing on said department order on Dec. 17, Thursday.

"Cashless transactions on our expressways are indeed ideal. Especially in this time of pandemic, I dare say that it is a necessity. However, effective policies are not borne out of good intentions alone," Poe said.

She underscored that the order failed to take into account the preparedness of the toll expressway service providers to comply with such a directive.

"It is being hounded by various issues concerning its implementation. Ang ending, taumbayan na naman ang naperwisyo. Our constituents have suffered enough during this pandemic. Traffic jams and toll booth problems should be the least of their concerns," she said.

At the outset of the cashless system rollout, Poe noted the absence of an interoperable radio frequency identification (RFID) and the sheer volume of vehicles that need to obtain the stickers within the short timeframe.

There are at least 12 million registered vehicles in the country. Of this number, 6.1 million are in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon, and three million do not have RFID stickers.

Poe cited the complaints arising from the cashless system. These include the difficulty in obtaining RFIDs; the unreasonable cap set by toll operators on the number of vehicles they accommodate per day for RFID installation; high minimum load requirement; malfunctioning RFID readers and scanners; delays in the reloading system of RFID accounts; unauthorized transactions, and other glitches that prohibit quick access.

Poe said that resulting problems from these inefficiencies were not merely confined in the area where the toll systems are located, but have also extended to nearby cities and municipalities. The holiday season will surely exacerbate what is an already worsening problem, she said.

The senator pitched adjustments that should be incorporated in the cashless toll system such as allowing cash lanes in consideration of infrequent and first-time users of expressways and removing penalties for insufficient cash balances as this should not be a traffic violation and may be remedied at the next reloading opportunity.

The government must also impose a deadline on the interoperability before a deadline for cashless transaction is imposed. There should also be a policy dealing with dormant accounts and the accumulated amounts that are expected to pile up through time.

Signing as co-sponsors of the resolution are Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senators Nancy Binay, Manny Pacquiao, Imee Marcos, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Ronald dela Rosa, Francis Pangilinan, Panfilo Lacson, Leila de Lima, Joel Villanueva, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian.