The House Committee on Metro Manila Development will dig deep to determine if the cashless toll collection scheme which it branded as costly and anti-poor should be fully implemented.

Manila Rep. Manuel Luis T. Lopez, chairman of the panel, lamented that with the implementation of a cashless payment system on toll expressways, there is an "obvious disadvantage" to vehicle owners.

“We need to dig deep into whether or not this cashless system is truly what we need now. We cannot afford to continue such a rushed, costly, and anti-poor scheme without concrete basis. This enormous benefit to the toll operators must be passed on to our motorists and riding public by way of discounts or toll rate reduction,” he said in a statement. 

The House panel last Tuesday held a hybrid hearing on the implementation of the Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) system in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).

Lopez questioned the imposition of the minimum load requirement for one RFID which ranges from P200 to P400. According to him, the amount collected last November alone for either NLEX or SLEX "could not be below P1 billion by way of minimum load upon acquiring RFID." 

He noted that as of last Nov. 25, about 3.2 million vehicles have been given RFID stickers out of the 12.7 million registered vehicles in the country.

“We can just imagine how much more is to be made by the tollway operators when this cashless system is fully implemented. And in all probability no one at any point in time just maintains the minimum balance. I see vehicles in front of me that have balances of tens of thousands of pesos. They would be holding billions of pesos in advance and, considering that no discount is given for any prepaid amount, they can already use and are being paid even if their services have not been availed of,” Lopez said.

"To be sure, it appears that there is an undue advantage on toll operators and an obvious disadvantage to vehicle owners with this current cashless system,” he said, noting that a lot of vehicles have yet to secure their RFID tags, as Metro Manila alone has around 6.2 million registered vehicles. 

The House leader cited the need to assess if "there is truly a need to make all tollway transactions cashless.”

He said his panel will continue to determine if the cashless system "will encourage more motor motorists to use toll roads” and "if the penalties are necessary and justifiable.”

Lopez observed that after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued Department Order 2020-012, which requires cashless or contactless transactions for all vehicles travelling on toll expressways primarily to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus last Aug. 13, "numerous events transpired.”

These include "altercations in the super hiway between the crowding motorists and poor tollgate frontliners; complaints from angry motorists who had to endure long queues and hours of inconvenience, just for the required RFID installation and prepaid toll fees; traffic jams reaching as far back to city roads; and many other forms of inconvenience to our motorists and riding public,” he said. 

Because of this, he said the initial deadline for the full implementation of the cashless system was moved from November to December and eventually to January as overwhelming complaints continued to pile up, with Valenzuela City suspending NLEX’s business permit due to system glitches and faulty sensors.

“It must be noted that if this deadline is maintained, motorists who do not have the required RFID, one kind for the North and another kind for the South Expressways, could not use these roads and can be subjected to penalties,” Lopez said.

“If the glitches, heavy traffic, and other manifestations of their lack of preparation continue, the total rollout of this cashless system will burden our motorists. We cannot let that happen hence, this hearing.”