Lifting the monopoly on five toll roads

KUALA LUMPUR: Highway users will be able to use their credit cards and debit cards to pay tolls on five roads, says Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.

Four of them – the Sungai Besi Expressway, the Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway, the New Pantai Expressway and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway – are in the Klang Valley, while the fifth is the Penang Bridge.

Nanta said the five roads would implement an open payment system by September.

If they prove successful, more highways could make the same switch.

Nanta said the system would be assessed in October before being considered for implementation on all highways nationwide.

“Since the beginning of this year, we have been talking with the highway concessionaires about the steps towards the implementation of an open payment system,” he said in a Facebook post.

“The implementation of this system is among the early initiatives for a switch to the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF), which is underway.”

He added that it would take several months to integrate the open payment system.

“The MLFF implementation will be done in phases, by the third quarter of 2024,” Nanta said.

He said the implementation of the MLFF would enable an open payment system to be carried out for toll collection on all highways.

“This will open up more opportunities for ewallet providers and end the monopoly of Touch ‘n Go.

“It will also create healthy competition among industry players and open up more choices for highway users in terms of toll payment methods,” he said.

Recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that Touch ‘n Go’s monopoly on the payment system for tolls and public transportation would be looked at in order to increase competition in the market.

On Monday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the ministry had instructed all agencies, including public transport operators under the ministry’s purview, to create an open payment system application.