YOURSAY | Minister, stop being a defender of Touch 'n Go

YOURSAY | 'The company is totally unfit to be given absolute monopoly'.

Touch 'n Go asked to submit 'scheduled report' to ministry

Halibullah Majid: What’s so special about Touch 'n Go (TNG) that it needs to be given some time to improve its services?

It has monopoly on toll payments for almost 30 years, is utterly clueless and couldn’t care less about the daily hassles faced by drivers at the toll booths.

Getting through a toll booth in Malaysia is one of the most unpleasant daily struggles of motorists.

Not only do we need to pay to use second-rate roads but also suffer the stress of getting stuck in jams at toll booths.

Just go to various other countries, you don’t ever stop to pay tolls. Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Salahuddin Ayub needs to stop being a defender of TNG.

Magnanimous46: The endless complaints here are indicative of a company totally unfit to be given an absolute monopoly in the toll and parking sector.

In reality, this company is holding its customers to ransom by demanding that complaints, problems and services such as refunds and card renewal must only be made at its head office.

Recently, I parked for three hours at a public hospital using my TNG card but when I exited, also swiping my card, I found RM12 deducted from my e-wallet.

I never applied for this amalgamation nor was I consulted or notified of this change. RM12 for parking for three hours at a public hospital?

There is no receipt issued by their machines while entering or exiting the car park. The TNG screens on entering and exiting are so tiny, dirty and worn out that nothing is visible.

Now, where does a senior citizen (lacking internet savvy) go to sort out this daylight robbery where no receipt whatsoever is provided to verify the particulars of the charges?

Do I have to go to its head office to find out? Other problems include:

1. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) gate does not open;

2. Parking meter screens are so tiny and worn out that nothing is visible to ascertain the legitimacy of charges;

3. Previously, cards were effective for five years and renewed at RM10 but are now allegedly reduced to three years at a higher renewal charge.

Why force people to pay for new cards? Aren't they already earning millions merely from the money we park in our accounts?

4. Why must we be made to go to its head office for renewals, refunds and complaints?

Why can't the balances be automatically carried forward when a card is renewed and why did they stop these renewal services from their sales offices?

Cars struggling to reverse out of toll gates due to a system or card malfunction is an everyday phenomenon at toll gates.

Imagine this scenario when toll gates are jammed up front and back like the LDP Sunway toll.

The RFID acronym “Reverse Fast, You Idiot” well suits the people that are holding the people to ransom due to the absolute monopoly dished out to this government-linked company.

MS: An inefficient monopoly which has become increasingly arrogant is a consequence of politicians of supremacist stock.

In Australia for example, one hardly hears of system glitches on its tolled motorways only because the governing principle is to make the technology invisible - and travel so smooth that except for the feedback beep from the sensor, no one realises that a toll was paid.

Even when the e-wallet does not have sufficient funds or the tag is not in place, you can still whizz through the gateless points and pay within a set grace period.

Why doesn’t such a people-friendly system exist in Malaysia? Answer: Ask the care-not politicians who nourish the bumbling monopoly with concessions regardless of the problems they cause the rakyat every day.

OCT: I went to buy the new TNG at NU Sentral at 10am yesterday. I wanted a normal plain RM10 TNG card.

To my surprise, the counter service told me that they had no stock of the RM10. They are selling a special edition TNG card costing RM25.

The RM10 card has been out of stock everywhere and for a long time. This appears to be an outright “scam” leaving purchasers without any option but to buy the special promotion card.

This is unfair marketing. It is a dirty trick. The rakyat has no evidence of empty stock of RM10. It is based on hearsay by them.

The government must investigate Hobson's choice. They know that when there is a choice of RM10 and RM25 cards, nobody will buy the RM25 cards.

It is impossible that the stock of RM10 is always out of stock without any attempt to replenish them after so many months. It is outright cheating to make a fast ringgit out of innocent consumers.

PurpleKijang9104: As an RFID card user when I first bought it last year, I found out from my transaction that it had been credited from my balance in my e-wallet at the access point in Bukit Beruntung and also deducted again at the exit point Rawang South leading to Latar Highway.

On two occasions, the exit point bar at Rawang South did not open. The attendant checked and despite me telling her that I used RFID to enter the highway at Bukit Beruntung access point using RFID, she charged me cash at the exit point.

No receipt was issued and when asked for it, she said that they had to use it for their report.

I had only noticed after checking my balance from the e-wallet that my RFID card had been deducting money from both sides, at the entry point and at the exit point.

When I reported via phone, after a big hassle getting the line, one morning at 4am I managed to talk to a sleepy woman who said the money would be credited back to my e-wallet but to my surprise, I found they refunded only one payment which they claimed to be the right one.

I discontinued RFID use thereafter and started using my TNG Card. Do beggars have any choice?

We want a minister like you, sir, to be people-friendly to set things right for the people who elected you.

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