Julia Christine Botin

New DOTr secretary suspends cashless toll collection

Article (news)

Benise Balaoing

Pia Gutierrez

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1740112482883New Project (14).jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Vehicles pass through the Balintawak tollway along the North Luzon Expressway in Caloocan City on October 22, 2020. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</div>MANILA (UPDATED) — Newly-appointed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon has ordered the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to suspend a policy requiring cashless collection of toll fees.Speaking with reporters at Malacañang, Dizon described the system as &quot;anti-poor&quot; since motorists might not always have the financial capability to top up their RFID accounts in advance.“Kayo siguro dito, kaya niyo mag-load sa Easytrip tsaka sa AutoSweep ng P2,000, P3,000, P,5000. Pero paano yung mga kababayan natin na sagad-sagad ang budget? Di ba? hindi sila makaka-load,” he said.(Maybe you here can load P2,000 or P3,000 or P5,000 in Easytrip and AutoSweep. But what about Filipinos with tight budgets? They will not be able to do that)Unused toll credit is stored in app wallets but Dizon said some motorists might forget to load up ahead of time. &quot;Ibig sabihin, pag-cashless, anong gagawin niya? Kalbaryo na naman &#x27;yun. Pagpapahirap na naman sa tao yun.&quot;(What I mean is, if it&#x27;s a cashless system, what is a motorist to do? That is an added burden to them)<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/2/19/nlex-corp-to-spend-p1-4-billion-to-improve-license-plate-rfid-readers-1619">NLEX Corp. to spend P1.4 billion to improve license plate, RFID readers</a></div>The transportation chief said he also plans to work with toll operators Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) and San Miguel to ensure that the tollways are ready to implement 100% contactless payments, noting technical issues in the past implementation of the full cashless system.Toll operators had earlier expressed support for the reimplementation of the cashless/contactless toll collection policy, saying this will “encourage the remaining 3% of motorists who still pay in cash to switch to RFID for a faster, more efficient, and seamless toll experience.”The implementation of the policy on cashless transactions was supposed to restart on March 15.Motorists without Electronic Toll Collection or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) stickers installed on their vehicles would have been allowed to enter toll plazas for installation.But they would also be issued Temporary Operator’s Permits or Show-Cause Orders for violating the ‘No Valid ETC Device, No Entry’ Policy&#x27;, the TRB said last week.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/weather-traffic/2025/2/16/trb-reminds-motorists-of-march-15-deadline-for-rfid-installation-2211">TRB reminds motorists to install RFID</a></div>Toll operators install the propriety stickers and devices and  motorists have to top up their virtual wallets to make sure they have enough credit in their accounts to pay for using the expressways.The policy was suspended last September due to technical issues and to give the public time to get used to contactless payments.

Speaking with reporters at Malacañan, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon described the system as "anti-poor."

Speaking with reporters at Malacañan, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon described the system as "anti-poor."

New DOTr secretary suspends 'cashless-only' toll collection policy

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New DOTr secretary suspends 'cashless-only' toll collection policy

Benise Balaoing,

Pia Gutierrez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 21, 2025 12:35 PM PHT

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Updated Feb 21, 2025 04:00 PM PHT

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Department of Transportation

Toll Regulatory Board

Vince Dizon

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