Published on January 21st, 2022 | by Amirul Mukminin

PLUS Apologises, Promises To Reinstate SmartTAG Lanes

The highway concessionaire will be taking several proactive measures to improve customer experience

PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) has issued a statement of apology for the massive traffic congestion caused by the malfunctioning RFID system at several toll plazas in the Klang Valley on Monday, 17 January 2022.

In a statement, PLUS said the Senior Minister of Works, Dato Sri Hj Fadillah Haji Yusof has raised his concern on the public’s grouses in relations to the initial RFID implementation and the removal of the SmartTag lanes at certain toll plazas.

Taking that into consideration, the highway concessionaire said it will be taking several proactive measures, which are fully aligned with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s recent statement which said road users must be given the freedom to use either RFID, SmartTAG or Touch ‘n Go to pay tolls.

First and foremost, PLUS will reinstate SmartTAG lanes at key toll plazas to address grievances by SmartTAG users and manage traffic.

“PLUS is committed to reinstate 16 toll plazas with 19 Touch ‘n Go lanes into SmartTAG lanes by 25th January 2022 is being selected in antipication of the Chinese New Year travel exodus. Subsequently post CNY, on 19th February, an additional of 18 more toll plazas will convert its 24 lanes to SmartTAG lanes,” read the statement.

With the aim of clearing traffic as quickly as possible, PLUS said it will work on optimising the system performance and sharpening detection at all toll plazas.

“Quicker “double arm” lane barriers will also be deployed at toll plazas with high traffic. Additionally, visual RFID detection zones will be painted on the lanes to ensure customers are able to position their vehicles for optimum detection,” the statement said.

PLUS has also assigned customer service assistants (CSAs) at all 158 RFID lanes across 74 toll plazas to assist customers who are stuck at the lanes using portable detection devices.

Meanwhile, RFID users who experience tag detection issues will receive a Touch ‘n Go coupon at the nearest fitment centre for assessment. If the RFID tag still has detection issues, Touch ‘n Go will replace it for free.