DOTr suspends Beep card policy on EDSA, says will look for new provider
MANILA, Philippines — The transportation department on Sunday said the mandatory use of Beep cards at the EDSA Busway will be suspended beginning October 5 until the issue on the cost of the cards is resolved.
In a statement, officials said the consortium behind the cashless transaction scheme refused to waive the cost of the Beep cards. AF Payments Inc. earlier this week said the P80 cost of the card is already at zero profit and is partially subsidized.
DOTr on Saturday demanded that AFPI waive the fee.
"This would have made a big difference to the commuters, mostly daily wage earners who are the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic," the department said Sunday.
The DOTr and LTFRB said the EDSA bus consortia will look for another automatic fare collection system provider with a meeting set on Tuesday, October 6.
A dual payment system will, for the meantime, be allowed for busway passengers, while those who have already bought their cards still allowed to use it for payment.
"Off board cash payment will be accomodated for those who have no card yet. Cash payments will be collected by personnel from the EDSA Bus Consortia at the stations," the department said.
Many Filipinos, who began to return to work since June after the months-long hard lockdown, had to shell out P180 pesos in total for buying the card and its maintaining balance.
It had resulted in long lines of commuters in bus and train stations on October 1, the day the policy took effect.
Vice President Leni Robredo had urged the department to instead pay for the Beep cards' cost as she said Filipinos could have been spared the confusion over the policy had officials come up with a proper information drive.
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