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By P Gunasegaram. Copyright March 2023
It will facilitate the introduction of new technology which will obviate altogether the need for toll booths
Accidents of history have a way of biting us in the back - repeatedly. One such is the granting of a monopoly to Touch ‘n Go as the only non-cash payment system on Plus and other highways throughout Malaysia from 1997 - when credit cards and debit cards were already available.
If we get rid of this needless monopoly which is over a quarter of a century old, we could adopt technology which will completely eliminate the need for toll booths and considerably improve traffic flow and reduce jams. But first some history.
When main highway operator Plus stopped accepting cash payments for tolls in March 2020, blaming Covid 19, it led to Touch ‘n Go becoming the sole payment system on all highways - and gave it a monopoly on highway payment systems - and all kinds of abuses too.
I had occasion to write about one of them, where I estimated that the renewal of Touch ‘n Go cards alone could get them as much as RM270 million in extra income per year because of unfair practices and processes such as slow/non-existent refunds for expired cards, shorter expiry periods and the hassles they cause.
This elicited a response through a letter from Plus which denied that it has ownership links with Touch ‘n Go. I never said it had - only pointing out that Touch ‘n Go was wholly owned by the CIMB Group whose largest single shareholder with about a quarter of shares is national sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional. Khazanah effectively owns 51% of Plus.
This confirms an interlocking, incestuous relationship among all the companies involved which cannot be good for the industry and for the consumer, who effectively bears all the extra costs incurred.
Plus, however, confirmed in its letter that “Touch ‘n Go is the sole government-approved electronic payment system provider for toll collections in Malaysia and operates, amongst others, its stored-value Touch 'n Go card.” This extends even to public transport systems, as we all well know.
As the sole payment operator, Touch ‘n Go must get a percentage of proceeds of toll collections, thereby reducing the amount available to Plus. If Plus continues accepting cash and added on debit and credit cards from all banks to the payment system, then it can decrease the commissions it pays to Touch ‘n Go. Also, customers don’t have to incur extra costs buying Touch ‘n Go cards.
Thus, one must definitely welcome PM Anwar Ibrahim’s proposal to review the monopoly enjoyed by Touch ‘n Go payment systems on Plus’ and other highways as well as transport systems. But the problem may be a binding agreement with Touch ‘n Go by the government.
If that is indeed the case, the government should come clean with the public and look at some ways to break the monopoly, perhaps on the basis that it is blatantly unfair and against fair competition, and allow the process of toll collection to be liberalised by permitting all payment systems to be used.
We now appear to be moving towards it. Transport minister Anthony Loke said that an open payment system for transport services, especially those under Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (basically the Kuala Lumpur transport system), will be implemented soon.
Meantime, four highways will implement the open payment system for their tolls latest by September 2023, according to Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi. This means users can soon pay tolls on those highways using debit or credit cards.
The four highways are the Sungai Besi Highway, the New Pantai Expressway, the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway.
But unless this is allowed for all the highways operated by Plus and others, which includes the North-South Expressway and many many others, Touch ‘n Go will continue to enjoy an unfair monopoly advantage to the detriment of all road users. And as a payments card it will also have an unfair advantage over other similar cards.
On top of that, such an advantage prevents the use of modern technology which will even obviate the need for toll booths altogether. It needs to be pointed out that Touch ‘n Go is using new technology but in a way that strengthens its grip on the public.
It owns the RFID (radio frequency identification device) which does away with smart tags and allows smooth but slow movement on the toll lanes. But it locks in the customer to a Touch ‘n Go card even when the technology is there to simply tie it to a credit or debit card. Removal of a monopoly will remove that too.
But RFID is not the best technology - you have to slow down considerably and pass through a lane still. There is technology available which only requires a device to be fitted to the vehicle which will record your movement through toll roads. You will be charged for all toll automatically via your credit or debit card which you register.
How much more convenient that will be than a Touch ‘n Go card forced upon us and which we don’t want and for which we incur much cost. But it will take courage and guts to get rid of outdated, derelict processes designed to create riches by diddling the public.
One hopes this government has them.
P Gunasegaram is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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