After having its business permit in Valenzuela City suspended, Nlex Corp. said on Tuesday it will “implement several measures to resolve” the issues raised and “protect” its customers and stakeholders.
Nlex Corp. President Luigi L. Bautista said his group is currently assessing the needed recourse to fix the glitches on the RFID system, which had caused heavy traffic along the expressway over the past couple of days.
“We are reviewing the situation and are doing everything necessary to address the issues,” he said.
Bautista noted that this may include amicable and cooperative initiatives between the tollway company and the City of Valenzuela.
“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,” he said.
To recall, Valenzuela Mayor Rex T. Gatchalian on Monday temporarily suspended the business permit of Nlex Corp. to operate within his jurisdiction due to the heavy traffic that was caused by the glitches in its digital toll collection system.
This resulted in free toll for many motorists and freed up congestion on the Valenzuela portion of the expressway.
Bautista noted that his group “acknowledges the mandated 100 percent 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,” Bautista said.
He noted that the group is now ramping up measures to ensure that the RFID systems will be “more convenient for the public,” and that concerns are of “top priority.”
Bautista added that the tollways firm “will continue to pursue a series of consultations and dialogues with the Valenzuela Mayor in good faith.”
The transport department has mandated all expressway operators to implement a full cashless toll collections system in their thoroughfares, as a means to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The policy was implemented on December 1.
The government is currently giving leeway to motorists who failed to have RFID stickers installed on their vehicles by allowing operators to convert all toll plazas into so-called “stickering lanes.”
By January 11, only select toll plazas will remain as stickering lanes. On that same day, motorists passing through expressways without RFID stickers will be apprehended.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza