MANILA—- Motorists who have no RFID stickers or who do not have enough load at toll gates will be fined starting October 1 instead of August 31, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Tuesday.

In a statement, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said he hopes the postponement of the implementation of Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2024-001 will help give tollways more time to inform people of the new guidelines.

Drivers with no RFID, load at tollways to be penalized starting August 31

“We hope the concerned agencies and tollway operators would use the 30-day deferment to finetune expressway operations and further intensify the public information campaign to enable tollway users to comply with the new guidelines,” he said.

The memo, which was signed on August 1 and published in a newspaper on August 16, specifies that motorists must apply for an electronic toll collection device like an RFID tag, attach it to their vehicles, and ensure that their accounts have enough balance to pay for their toll fees. 

Entering a tollway without an RFID sticker shall be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second offense, and P5,000 for succeeding offenses. 

Meanwhile, leaving the toll expressway with not enough balance to pay your fees will be fined P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense, and P2,500 for the succeeding offenses.  

The TRB said the memo hopes to improve traffic flow at toll plazas.

Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) spokesperson Julius Corpuz also said this is in preparation for their transition to cashless transactions, which the agency hopes to start by October this year.

RELATED STORY: