Gatchalian calling for toll holiday so operators can upgrade system

December 7, 2020

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday also blamed the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) for the “horrendous traffic and bad service” of toll operators.

In a TV interview, Gatchalian said he is calling for a toll holiday while toll operators upgrade and repair their system.

“I think the first question to ask is, where is TRB? This should not have happened if TRB was on the ball monitoring, regulating and making sure the performance of the concessionaire, the operators are up to par,” he said.

“There is a big clamor to implement a toll holiday and I subscribe to that. It’s a technical issue and should have been resolved a long time ago by the operator and validated by the regulator but we’re at this point already... my view here is while you repair and upgrade your system to make sure these technical errors will not happen, let the motorists use the highway for free and implement a tollway holiday,” he added.

Gatchalian said glitches on RFID readers are the root cause of the problem and while they are working on their system, motorists should be allowed to use the expressway for free.

“We use the toll road, I use the toll road on a regular basis and I’ve experienced on and off RFID readers when I use the North Expressway, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t work and most often than not if it doesn’t work you have to drive back and switch to another lane and this is the root cause of the problem, the RFID readers does not work 100 percent of the time and if doesn’t work a lot of cars would back up and move to another lane and just imagine if trucks do that?,” he said.

“So in this case if the operator is saying that they are repairing it, they are not ready then allow the motorists to use the highway while they are repairing the system. Allow them to use the highway and don’t charge them because it’s your fault that your RFID system is not ready and not 100 percent operational. Don’t fault the consumers for your mistakes, they granted you the privilege to operate this highway,” he said.

Gatchalian said the faulty and non-functioning RFID readers should not have happened if the regulator is monitoring and doing their job to give the Filipino consumers the best service possible.

He said the regulator must monitor the toll operators and make sure that they are performing up to par.

“But obviously they are not and we’re still experiencing a lot of this monstrous traffic as we speak and the question here is, where is the regulator? How come the regulator is not doing its job in terms of cracking the whip and making sure that the operators are performing up to what is written in the concession agreement?,” he asked.

Gatchalian said the TRB and toll operators must be held accountable for the current situation on toll gates after they fully implemented 100 percent cashless and contactless transactions last December 1.

“We’re holding them into account we are making sure that the accountability is exerted here because we have mechanisms to prevent this from happening, that’s why we have TRB and that’s why the TRB is there to make sure all of these things will not happen and the consumers will get the best possible service,” he said.

“But since this is happening, we have no choice but for us legislators to step in and conduct inquiries which is actually not our job because our job is to make laws and to conduct oversight but since the regulator is not functioning well, we have no choice but to address the concerns and the complaints of our consumers,” he added.

Gatchalian urged operators to repair their system and make sure that it is 100 percent working all the time as they cannot stop the public from using the expressways.

“If your system is not ready to accept this volume of vehicles then you should not use it, if your system is not technically capable to implement 100 percent online service, 100 percent faultless service then don’t use it,” he said.

“In this case don’t use the RFID system, allow the consumers to use the highway because you cannot stop them from using the highway because you are not ready,” he added. Ella Dionisio/DMS