Motorists with no RFID, insufficient load at toll gates to be fined starting Aug. 31

Heads up, motorists!

Starting Aug. 31, those who will enter expressways without radio frequency identification (RFID) devices or who do not have enough RFID load will be fined up to P5,000.

According to The Philippine STAR, a joint memorandum circular signed by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) with the Land Transportation Office and Department of Transportation will be imposing penalties on motorists using tollways without an electronic toll collection (ETC) device.

The move was done in an effort to help lessen the issue of traffic around toll plazas.

Violators will be fined P1,000 for the initial offense, P2,000 for the second offense, and P5,000 for subsequent offenses.

For those who will exit a toll gate with lacking load balance for the required fee, a penalty of P500 will be imposed for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense, and P2,500 for the ensuing offenses.

The TRB explained that they initiated the order to penalize motorists without an ETC device and insufficient load balance to be fair to those who have been dutifully using the tollways.

"A vast majority of toll expressway users at 91% are compliant and responsible ETC users and are often greatly inconvenienced by the erring motorists," the TRB said.

With this, the agency aims to urge motorists to fix their ETC devices and load up properly for their trips with the penalty so that long queues at tollway booths will be reduced.

The TRB assured that they will properly inform motorists of the provisions of the circular as it takes effect by the end of the month.