NLEX: Some 2% of RFID stickers defective

Some 2% of the radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers installed are defective due to issues such as wear and tear, NLEX Corp. said Tuesday, but the company noted that vehicles with such tags have already been identified and owners have been reached out to.

According to NLEX Corp. senior vice president Romulo Quimbo Jr., NLEX Corp. is currently in the process of reaching out and changing defective RFID stickers which have already been installed earlier.

"We have a sticker replacement program. These are all customers with accounts with us and changing the stickers is an ongoing thing. Many of the motorists who have already changed the stickers have already successfully traversed the system," he said in an interview on CNN-Philippines' "The Source."

The government earlier set a December 1 deadline for major tollways in the country to shift to a fully cashless system, in a bid to minimize human interaction and arrest the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

NLEX Corp. operates the Easytrip System which covers the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx), the C5 Southlink, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).

"Our latest record shows about 2% of the stickers or of the passages attributable to defective or wrong stickers are the source or the root of the problem, so we have to go back to this 2%," said Quimbo.

"In the first place, we have records of those cars who have issues or problems at the toll gate itself attributable to the stickers. I'm not saying everybody, so our program, because we identify them, we know who they are. We are contacting them, and we are changing their stickers. It's not everybody," he said.

Quimbo said defective stickers may be caused by wear and tear, or due to production issues which the company is now looking to resolve.

"We want to address sticker reading and of course the traffic congestion as soon as possible. We are starting as quickly as possible in order to avoid this discomfort and inconvenience that is being experienced by our motorists obviously not only in Valenzuela," he said.

Over the weekend, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian blamed the shift to the RFID collection system for the traffic congestion in the city, and threatened that NLEX Corp. could run the risk of losing its business permits should the concerns remain unaddressed.

NLEX Corp.'s business permit was suspended by the local government on Monday, December 7, citing the unresolved issues. — RSJ, GMA News