Government officials have confirmed with Careta.my that Touch ‘n Go (TnG) has proposed to Transport Ministry and Works Ministry to charge a one-time fee of RM10 fee (duration of five years or equal to RM2 annually) to Malaysian car owners for using the mobile wallet to pay toll via the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.
The new tolling system which will undergo nationwide rollout beginning early next year, with 100,000 RFID tags set to be issued to Malaysian and Singaporean Class 1 vehicles in January, require consumers to synchronise personal bank account or debit and credit card with the TnG Wallet.
However, it is unknown if there is any exemption given to government machinery such as Police, medical services, Immigration Department, Armed Forces and Fire and Rescue Department.
It is understood the proposed one-time fee of RM10 for locals is only for tolling purpose via the eWallet while the fee for using TnG mobile payment for retail, airfares, cinema tickets or bus and train ride via the QR code is free of charge.
According to Transport Ministry official, it is estimated that there are 21 million Touch ‘n Go physical cards in circulation with almost 92 per cent from the total transactions of Touch ‘n Go are for tolling or over half a billion ringgit in terms of transactions value monthly (on average) on 31 highways and expressways in the country.
As the leader in cashless payment sector in the country, Touch ‘n Go is in the process of retiring the physical card and phasing out the SmartTag lane by end of 2020, in collaboration with Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) and highway concessionaires.
With the migration by vehicle drivers from physical card to RFID sticker may take at least two years to complete entirely, Touch ‘n Go had announced last month that it has discontinued the selling of SmartTag gadget beginning August 8.
“We were informed by Touch ‘n Go that everything is heading towards digital payment,” the source said.
RFID is a worldwide technology adopted in several countries including India, Argentina, Taiwan and United States for cashless toll. It uses a radio frequency chip in a sticker and normally fitted onto the vehicle’s windscreen or headlight.
This sticker is unique or limited to only one car and it is connected to the Touch 'n Go eWallet application that enable users to monitor the eWallet balance. It also offers an option of adding value offline with pin numbers. This RFID sticker is replacing the role of the SmartTag device.
While the plan for RFID system on expressways has received the blessing of the higher up in the new government, Careta.my understands that the execution of RFID and mobile wallet as the vital cog of LLM’s blueprint for a multi-lane free flow (MLFF) at toll plazas and gateless gantry toll system by 2022.
Currently, the fee for using Touch ‘n Go mobile wallet and RFID tag is waived for 10,000 vehicles with private registration from Class 1 category during the ongoing trial period which began from last Monday until end of this year on 16 selected highways in Klang Valley. Car owners and drivers can download the Touch ‘n Go mobile app from Play Store and App Store.
Higher Fee for Singaporeans?
Careta.my understands that starting next year, a RM20 fee may be imposed to Singaporean car owners under the implementation of similar digital payment instrument for Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) system as well as for paying highway tolls in Malaysia.
According to a senior official of Transport Ministry, call for Singaporeans to install the VEP RFID tags at any of the three fitment centres in Johor Bahru will be initiated by early November.
A senior officer of Road Transport Department (RTD) said Touch ‘n Go eWallet is also the payment gateway for the VEP charge at the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) building at the Causeway and Sultan Abu Bakar CIQ complex on the Second Link.
“The payment for VEP at the southern border is similar to using RFID for tolling on highways. VEP charge is an additional element in the RFID and eWallet. Simply, the VEP tag is also an RFID tag. Currently, Singaporean drivers are using the Touch ‘n Go physical card to pay VEP,” said the RTD officer based in Putrajaya.
In the future, she said, the payment for border entry charge using Touch ‘n Go wallet will also be expanded at the northern borders of Peninsular depending on the success rate of VEP RFID implementation in southern Johor.
Asked if the Malaysian and Singaporean consumers have the options to utilise other digital payment platform for RFID tolling and VEP, a high-ranking official from Works Ministry said: “So far there is no other option. Touch ‘n Go is the sole digital payment provider for highway tolls and VEP charge for foreign cars.”