PLUS says sorry for RFID issues, 43 SmartTAG lanes will be reinstated at 34 toll plazas

PLUS has issued a statement apologising for the inconvenience caused after its recent mass implementation of RFID payment. The highway concessionaire has also revealed its next steps to solve the highway congestion issue as well as other initiatives to address the concerns of RFID users.

Following remarks made by the Prime Minister, PLUS said the RFID option has co-existed with SmartTAG and Touch ‘n Go payment options in most open toll highway networks since 2018. PLUS has introduced RFID as an additional payment on 15th January 2022 to cater to users who wish to travel interstate.

To address the concerns of existing SmartTAG users, PLUS will be reinstating 19 SmartTAG lanes at 16 toll plazas by next Tuesday, 25th January 2022 ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday season. On 19th February, a total of 24 Touch ‘n Go lanes will be converted to SmartTAG at 18 more toll plazas. That’s a total of 43 SmartTAG lanes to be reinstated in the next month.

In addition, PLUS is also working on optimising system performance and sharpening detection at all toll plaas. They are introducing quicker “double-arm” lane barriers at high traffic toll plazas to help clear traffic quickly. To improve the RFID detection rate, PLUS will paint visual RFID detection zones on the lane to ensure customers are able to position their vehicles accordingly for optimal detection.

In the event, a customer gets stuck in the RFID lane, PLUS has assigned customer service assistants equipped with portable detection devices at 158 RFID lanes across 74 toll plazas. If an RFID tag can’t be detected, customers will be given a Touch ‘n Go coupon for a free assessment at an authorised fitment centre. A free replacement will be offered if the tag is found to be faulty.

At the moment, there are 24 fitment centres throughout the PLUS highway and 35 fitment centres outside the highway. You can view the list of TNG RFID fitment centres here. PLUS said it is working closely with Touch ‘n Go to increase the number of fitment centres to ensure a proper RFID tag installation by a professional agent.

On 15th January 2022, PLUS has a total of 164 RFID lanes at 83 toll plazas from Juru to Skudai. However, on Monday morning, there was congestion at several major toll plazas due to confusion and detection errors with RFID tags. Some SmartTAG users have complained that SmartTAG lanes at smaller toll plazas were replaced with RFID despite its earlier announcement that existing payment methods are still available.

The recent RFID implementation is the largest of its kind in Malaysia as it involves more toll plazas in a closed-system highway. A user that enters the PLUS highway via the RFID lane must exit via RFID. At the moment, there’s only one RFID lane at most toll plazas and that can be a problem if there’s a vehicle stuck in the lane. If you’ve entered the highway via RFID but switch to Touch ‘n Go or SmartTAG at the exit, you will be charged the maximum toll rate as a penalty.

Related reading

• PM: Highway users must be given the choice of whether to use RFID or not
• 6 things PLUS and TNG should do for smoother RFID rollout
• PLUS enables RFID at Juru-Skudai toll plazas at 10pm on 15 Jan. Here’s what you need to know
• TNG eWallet is offering RFID tags with RM5 cashback and free shipping