A party-list lawmaker on Friday urged the North Luzon Expressway operator to address the complaints from customers about overcharging by its Easytrip radio frequency identification or RFID system.
Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor said irate travelers have taken to social media platforms, including Easytrip’s Facebook page, to ventilate their grievances in the hope that they will catch the attention of the operator and the Department of Transportation and Toll Regulatory Board.
He said many travelers complain that they are charged for the entire length of NLEX for shorter trips.
“In some cases, they are even charged twice,” he said.
Defensor said one exasperated overcharging complainant has labelled Easytrip as “Easythief.”
Another expressway user claiming to be a victim of disappearing load described it as “high-tech pangongotong (extortion).”
Defensor said aside from overcharging and disappearing loads, other complaints include poor customer response service, RFID scanners that don’t work and an Easytrip app that cannot be accessed.
He said based on Easytrip’s own website, complaining NLEX customers get a standard response: “Our apologies for the inconvenience. we will get back to you as soon as possible.”
“The promise of a future communication is just that – a promise, prompting customers to comment that it was a robot that replied to them,” he said.
“Don’t they have a real human being to attend to us, instead of a robot or a computer?” a complainant asked.
Defensor lamented that most of the angry expressway users’ expressions of dissatisfaction and resentment have so far fallen on deaf ears.
“The DOTr and the TRB have to compel the operator to fix these issues. Otherwise, the government’s cashless, contactless toll payment program in expressways will never be fully implemented,” he said.
He said many NLEX users now prefer to pay cash in toll plazas due to the numerous RFID-related problems they have encountered and which have remained unfixed.
“They choose to pay cash even at the risk of getting coronavirus infection, which the RFID system is supposed to avoid, and though they have to queue for a few minutes, sometimes for five minutes, sometimes longer,” he said.
Defensor said the DOTr and TRB will have to keep the cash payment lanes until the operator fixes all its RFID issues and glitches.
