MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has ordered that stored value cards, popularly known as Beep cards, be given free of charge to commuters.
“Give the (Beep) card free,” Duterte said in a nationwide address on Monday night after holding the weekly meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Malago Clubhouse at Malacañang.
The President called the attention of all government agencies concerned in the implementation of cashless payment systems in public transportation, particularly Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.
Duterte’s announcement came after the “no Beep card, no ride” policy for EDSA Busway buses was implemented on Oct. 1 but suspended by Tugade for at least five days last Monday following complaints by commuters of having to buy a Beep card for P80 and a minimum load of P100, excluding a P5 fee for reloading. The minimum balance was set at P65.
Duterte clarified that only the cards would be distributed free of charge but commuters will still have to buy load.
“I would like to talk to Secretary Tugade next meeting because I would raise with him the possibility of giving it free,” he said, adding that he expects to meet with Tugade during next week’s Cabinet meeting.
Other players eyed
Tugade said yesterday he has ordered the DOTr’s road sector team not to accept an offer by AF Payments Inc., which provides Beep cards for the EDSA Busway, to give away 125,000 free cards.
He said at least one million commuters should be given free Beep cards and that number could increase.
Tugade said a number of companies have expressed interest in taking part in the automatic fare collection system (AFCS) for the EDSA Busway.
“Now, if I accept the 125,000, my hands might be tied with that. That is why I said let us analyze first all the proposals,” he said.
The DOTr is studying the possibility of opening up the AFCS platform to all providers interested in offering better solutions, but their systems should be open and ready for integration and interoperability.
The agency also pointed out that charges in operating the system must not be shouldered by commuters.
Guidelines out soon
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman Martin Delgra III said yesterday the LTFRB will meet with AFCS providers and bus operators and guidelines to enact Duterte’s order would be out this week.
According to LTFRB technical division chief Joel Bolaño, they would also discuss the interoperability of cashless transactions.
He said the cards would be engineered to be readable even by another company’s AFCS and could be used not only in the EDSA Busway but also in other bus routes, train lines, modern jeepneys and other modes of transport that require cashless transactions. – Richmond Mercurio, Neil Jayson Servallos
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