THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) has deferred the enforcement of its revised tollway guidelines to October 1, following consultations with key stakeholders.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said the extension will allow stakeholders to “fine tune” tollways operations before they start imposing fines to motorists who do not have radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or have insufficient balance when using tollways.
The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) on August 17 announced that it will start penalizing motorists without RFID tags or those who have insufficient credits under the Joint Memorandum Circular 2024-001.
Under the circular, motorists entering expressways without valid RFID tags or electronic toll collection (ETC) devices will have to shell out between P1,000 to P5,000 in fines.
Motorists with insufficient load will also have to pay between P500 and P2,500. Lastly, those who have fraudulent, tampered, or fake ETC devices will pay penalties between P1,000 and P5,000.
The original implementation date was set for August 31, following its publication in a major newspaper.
“We hope the concerned agencies and tollway operators would use the 30-day deferment to fine-tune expressway operations and further intensify the public information campaign to enable tollway users to comply with the new guidelines,” said Bautista.
Earlier, groups and think tanks cautioned the transport agency from penalizing motorists without upgrading the “outdated and unreliable” cashless toll collection systems in the Philippines.
The TRB earlier said the penalties aim to encourage motorists to use RFID to streamline traffic along expressways in the country.
Erring motorists, according to the regulator, represent 9 percent of all expressway users. They are said to have been “the ones causing the unnecessary delays and long queues at the toll plazas.”
“These revised guidelines should significantly improve traffic along expressways through cashless or contactless toll plazas,” Bautista noted.
The move towards cashless expressways began in 2021 when the TRB designated only one exit lane for cash transactions at toll plazas, with all other lanes reserved for electronic toll collection (ETC).
