Valenzuela City lifts suspension vs NLEX business permits

December 16, 2020

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian on Wednesday conditionally lifted the suspension order he issued against North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. business permits in their tollways located within the jurisdiction in the city.

In a Facebook post, Gatchalian said the toll holiday ended around 12:01 pm.

“The City Government of Valenzuela and NLEX Corporation have come to a meeting of the minds this morning, 10:30 am, December 16, 2020,” he said.

“Both parties believe that this is the right direction to take to ease the burden of the riding public,” he added.

The mayor said both parties have mutually agreed that barriers are up in all RFID lanes in the toll plazas from 5am to 10 pm every day where NLEX are allowed to collect fees.

From 10:01 pm to 4:59 am, barriers in all RFID lanes will be down for safety reasons.

“Both parties have mutually agreed on the reinstatement of cash lanes in strategic locations in the toll plazas in the city,” he said.

According to Gatchalian, the toll management promised that RFID system and account management upgrade that will address growing consumer complaints will be completed on or before January 30, 2021

He added they have also agreed to create a technical working group, composed of Valenzuela City and NLEX key personnel, who will continuously meet to innovate traffic and account management initiatives.

The city government said if these conditions are violated, the business permit of the toll operator will be suspended without further notice.

Last December 7, Gatchalian personally served the suspension order for the business permit of NLEX after it failed to present an explanation and action plan over the traffic woes in the tollways that is affecting the city.

It is believed to be caused by the glitches in their RFID system since December 1 when they started to implement the Department of Transportation’s 100 percent contactless and cashless transactions order. Ella Dionisio/DMS