Trucks transporting farm products to get toll rebates from June 1, 2024

Truckers that transport agricultural products and are accredited by the Department of Agriculture will be eligible for toll rebates beginning next month.

At a press conference in Pasig City on Thursday, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), the Department of Finance, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Agriculture along with Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and SMC Tollways officially launched the Agri-Trucks Toll Rebate Program, which will take effect on June 1, 2024.

Under the program, which aims to ease the inflationary impact of toll fees on agricultural commodities, the truckers shall receive rebates equivalent to toll hikes implemented from June 2023.

The rebate program will initially run for three months and be subject to review for possible extension, depending on the inflationary situation, according to TRB executive director Alvin Carullo.

The program is seen to benefit 200 to 300 farm product-carrying trucks traversing expressways in both north and south Luzon.

The toll rebate covers users of North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), Subic-Clark Expressway (SCTEX), and Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX).

For those using SMC Tollways-operated toll roads, SMC chief financial officer Raoul Romulo said the average rebate ranges from P2 to P30 depending on the class of vehicles.

For MPTC-operated expressways, DA-accredited truckers could get a rebate of P16 to P156, depending on the distance and vehicle class.

To qualify for the rebate program, truckers should be duly accredited by the DA and should have a valid Autosweep and/or Easytrip RFID accounts.

The enrollment process is as follows:

• Register RFID Account:
  • For Easytrip RFID account holders (NLEX, SCTEX and CAVITEX users), visit: NLEX Balintawak Customer Service Center, CAVITEX Parañaque Customer Service Center 
  • For Autosweep RFID account holders (SLEX and MCX users), visit C5 Office, Petron Commerce, Petron KM 44 Northbound, Calamba Customer Service Center, SLEX Greenfields, Southwoods Northbound, Southwoods Southbound, Sta. Rosa Northbound, Sta. Rosa Southbound, Star Toll Lipa Customer Service Center, Tarlac Customer Service Center
• Submit/present requirements: 
  • Original Department of Agriculture (DA) accreditation certificate 
  • Copy of the vehicle’s OR/CR (Official Receipt/Certificate of Registration)
  • Valid ID
  • Easytrip/Autosweep card
• Fill out the Agricultural Trucks Toll Fee Increase Exemption Form provided by the Customer Service Center personnel

Submitted documents will undergo a verification process within seven working days. Enrollees will be notified of their enrollment status via their registered email addresses. 

Once approved, DA-accredited truckers will enjoy a toll rebate that will be credited to their RFID accounts every Wednesday of the following week. 

As part of monitoring and to prevent abuse, spot checks will be conducted to ensure enrolled trucks are transporting agricultural goods/products. 

Non-compliance may result in disqualification from the program. 

“This program aims to protect the welfare of the general public by minimizing the impact of toll rate increase on the overall inflationary situation to ensure the stability of food prices. The TRB, together with the different government agencies, acknowledges the toll expressway concessionaires and operators for their full support and cooperation as this will not be possible if they did not agree to implement this exemption,” Carullo said.

For his part, DOF Assistant Secretary Eufrocino Bernabe Jr. said the toll rebate program was intended to bring down yung cost of production.

“We don't have an actual study of how much it will bring to inflation. But we expect that the cost of production will be reduced accordingly,” Bernabe said. — BM, GMA Integrated News