Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said, “I thank our government agencies as well as our partner toll expressway concessionaires and operators for their full cooperation. This measure will prevent the second round effects of toll rate increases onto food inflation and ensure that we keep food prices stable and affordable for our consumers”.

The initiative was led by the Department of Finance (DOF), the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Department of Agriculture (DA), with the support of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and San Miguel Corporation (SMC) Tollways.

The Agri-Trucks Toll Rebate Program caters to truckers that are accredited by the Department of Agriculture and have valid Autosweep and/or Easytrip RFID accounts.

Once enrolled and approved into the system, toll rebates will be credited to the truckers’ RFID accounts every Wednesday of the following week.

The rebate program is targeted to run for three months subject to extension, and is seen to benefit 200 to 300 agricultural trucks traveling from north and south Luzon.

Covered by the program are the Manila-Cavite Expressway, North Luzon Expressway, Subic Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, and the South Luzon Expressway. – Department of Finance

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), through its Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) will conduct a dry run starting Friday, Sept. 1 to test the readiness of concessionaires for a smooth and efficient reimplementation of the program.

“We support the DOTr’s and the TRB’s move to make toll collection purely cashless. We believe this move will significantly reduce traffic congestion and waiting times at toll plazas and contribute to a smoother and safer travel experience,” said SMC President and CEO Ramon S Ang.

The infrastructure unit of San Miguel Corporation, which operates several toll expressways in Luzon, said it has begun transitioning mixed lanes—or cash-accepting lanes—at select toll plazas and exits, to allow for only cashless transactions.

“Our teams are already installing and calibrating RFID scanners and related equipment. We will do everything necessary to ensure that the implementation will go smoothly. If in the course of the dry run period any adjustments have to be made, we will also be ready,” Ang continued. 

Under the TRB-directed dry run, only vehicles with an active Autosweep RFID account will be allowed along SMC’s toll expressways, namely the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), Skyway at-grade and Skyways 1,2,3; the NAIA Expressway, and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX).

Motorists without an active RFID sticker will still be allowed to pass, but toll personnel will install an RFID sticker on their vehicle so they can exit at the electronic toll collection (ETC) lane towards their destination. 

Toll personnel will only take a photo of the vehicle license plate and secure the motorist’s mobile phone number. Motorists will then need to complete the registration process by supplying other essential information at the Autosweep RFID website. 

Ang meanwhile assured motorists that the Autosweep RFID remains a safe, secure, and efficient electronic toll collection system, and its customer service hotline is open daily to help address motorists’ concerns. 

“Our motorists can always reach out to our customer service team to deal with any concern they have regarding their Autosweep accounts. We appeal to our motorists to report any problems they encounter to our help desk, immediately,” Ang said. 

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Loading an Autosweep RFID account has also been made easier, more convenient, and widely available.  It is a registered vendor at major banks such as Bank of Commerce, and their respective online and electronic banking facilities. E-wallets can also be used to reload the Autosweep RFID account, as well as the payment facilities of major convenience stores nationwide. 

Replacement of malfunctioning RFID stickers will remain free of charge as part of Autosweep’s commitment to support the full cashless transaction program of the TRB, Ang added. 

Meanwhile, motorists who will refuse the installation of RFID stickers on their vehicles will have their license plates recorded and tagged, and may be issued violation tickets for obstructing traffic. 

DOTR’s Department Order 2020-012 issued in August 2020 mandated toll road concession holders to implement a cashless or contactless toll collection system to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus, and speed up traffic flow at the facilities, using as legal basis Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and RA No. 8792 or the Electronic Commerce Act, respectively. 

A subsequent addendum to the order issued in January 2021 instituted a transition period to the full cashless transaction program, with cash-accepting lanes maintained at toll plazas and exits. 

For the motorists’ guidance, the following toll plazas and exits at SMC tollways are covered by the cashless and contactless toll transaction program:

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) account holders can now load their Autosweep RFIDs conveniently via the RCBC Online Banking Facility.

The AutoSweep RFID is used for smooth, cashless entry in some of the biggest expressways in the region, including South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Skyway, STAR Tollway, Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway (NAIAX), and Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEX).

RCBC Executive Vice President, Emmanuel T. Narciso said that the universal bank continues to collaborate with major tollway operators to promote and implement cashless collections in the country’s main thoroughfares, making it easy and convenient for its customers to reload their RFIDs using the RCBC website or mobile app.

“We hope that with this additional feature in RCBC Online Banking, more of our clients will be encouraged to enroll and experience the benefits and convenience of subscribing to our digital banking services,” he added.

The AutoSweep RFID reloading is accessible to RCBC savings or checking account holders enrolled with RCBC Online Banking.

To use RCBC Online Banking’s newly launched feature, simply log on to the website www.rcbconlinebanking.com, or use the RCBC Online Banking App which is downloadable for free from the Apple Store or Play Store; go to ‘Buy Load’; select the ‘AutoSweep RFID’ icon; and fill-out the required details in the loading form – RCBC source account, the amount to be loaded, and the RFID account number located at the back of the AutoSweep card.

Users can load amounts from P200 to P5,000 per transaction up to P50,000 per day, immediately followed by a notification via e-mail and/or SMS for each successful transaction and their remaining Autosweep balance.

A member of the Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC), RCBC is one of the largest universal banks and leading digital financial institutions in the Philippines.

As a testament to the Bank’s vision for excellence and outstanding customer service through digital innovation, RCBC has garnered numerous recognitions from prestigious award-giving bodies that recognize outstanding financial institutions.

RCBC was named 2021 Best Digital Bank of the Philippines by London-based financial publication Business Tabloid in May, and Best Cash Management Bank Philippines 2021 by Global Banking and Finance Review in June.

With the implementation of 100% cashless toll collection by the government on December 1, San Miguel Corporation reported that traffic along its expressways and toll plazas was generally smooth in the first morning.

The company reported that as of 10:45 AM, traffic at the STAR Tollway, Southern Luzon Expressway, the Skyway System, NAIA Expressway, and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) was generally “smooth and peaceful”, though there were still steady queues of vehicles at assigned Autosweep RFID installation lanes.

These, however, did not contribute to any major or sustained traffic gridlock in and out of the expressways and did not affect motorists who were already using the electronic toll collection lanes.

“As we announced recently, all our expressways are fully equipped to comply with the government mandate for 100% cashless toll collection. Based on up-to-date reports we have been receiving and live footage from our CCTV monitoring systems, we did not have any major problems at our expressways this morning–the first day of implementation, which is also the first working day coming from a long weekend,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said.

“There was a momentary buildup near Sto. Tomas, Batangas, lasting only about an hour. We also had the usual lines at RFID installation lanes, but these were within normal levels and did not cause major traffic for other motorists at the carriageways and the toll plazas,” he added.

Ang said that the smooth flow of traffic can be attributed to the fact that most regular users of the southern expressways have already secured their Autosweep RFID stickers and were already using electronic toll collection lanes with ease.

The company’s system also allows for scanning of RFID stickers up to five meters, resulting in faster and more reliable throughput at toll plazas.

However, many non-regular have still not been able to secure their RFID stickers, as evidenced by continuous long lines at sticker installation stations, which started spiking in October through November.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has since eased its policy, saying that no apprehensions are to be made until January 11, and that the tollways may practice leniency for motorists that still do not have RFID stickers.

In the weeks leading up to the implementation, SMC announced several measures, including the opening of 100 additional sticker installation sites, to help accommodate the surge in applications.

Ang recently also asked the DOTr to consider extending the deadline for full implementation to February.

“As we said, all our expressways and our toll plazas are fully equipped and ready. I think most of our regular motorists are also ready and are in fact benefitting already from faster and safer throughput at toll plazas. But we still have so many motorists that have not secured their RFID stickers, as we can see from the continuous high volume of applications at installation sites. It’s for them that we are asking the government for a little more consideration. We can also better avoid panic and crowding at installation sites. It’s physical contact that we are guarding against, after all, with this cashless toll collection measure,” he said.

“I think by February 2021, most of the majority of motorists will be able to secure their stickers. And even after that, we will not stop issuing free stickers. We will still retain sticker installation sites and lanes. We will also bring stickers to more villages and barangays via our mobile Autosweep program. If there is no urgent need for motorists to travel and use the expressways yet, we advise you that there is no need to panic. You can avoid the lines and the hassle, and still get your sticker at a more convenient time,” Ang added.