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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 4) – The Department of Transportation has suspended the mandatory use of stored value cards or “Beep” cards on the EDSA busway from Monday, October 5 until further notice.
Sunday’s announcement came after card service provider Beep AF Payments, Inc. (AFPI) refused to immediately remove the $ 80 cost of the card in addition to the fee.
“We are saddened by the refusal of AF Payments, Inc … to waive the cost of the sound card despite constant pleas made by the government,” DOTr said in a statement. “This would have made a huge difference for travelers, mostly the daily wage earners who are the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He said the mandatory use of the cards will be suspended until “the problem is resolved.”
The agency said that a dual payment system for EDSA busway passengers will be temporarily observed. Those who already have existing Beep cards can still use them, but EDSA Bus Consortium staff will also accept cash payments at the stations.
Earlier on Sunday, Vice President Leni Robredo said the government could essentially take over the payment of the Beep cards and their initial fare burden to ease the burden on travelers, especially those severely affected by the pandemic.
“Homeless people should be given a Beep card, an initial charge of ₱ 100 for the next time you load and save.”
[Translation: Indigents should have received the Beep cards for free, along with an initial load of ₱100 so that the next time, they would have enough savings to load it themselves.]Travelers previously criticized DOTr’s “no beep card, no travel” policy due to the lack of adequate information dissemination prior to its implementation.
According to Robredo, if travelers had been informed earlier about the new policy, they would have had enough time to prepare for the additional cost of transportation.
“Let’s just help, because ₱ 80 ‘per passenger. The problem is that if we are not informed, many compatriots are simply carrying the correct one. Others are still struggling to get a daily rate,” he added. she said.
[Translation: Let’s just help them, because each passenger would need to pay ₱80. The problem is if they were not informed, they would only have the exact fare with them. Others have a more difficult time budgeting their daily fare.]The Beep card is the tool currently used in EDSA’s automatic bus line fare collection system.
Last week, AFPI, a joint venture of the Ayala and First Pacific groups, defended its collection system and said it does not benefit from the fees for each Beep card. He also said that the cost of Beep cards has already been lowered from August 1 to September 30 to help operators affected by the pandemic.
Transportation Undersecretary Goddes Libiran said on Sunday that the contract for the use of Beep cards was made between utility vehicle operators and AFPI, adding that DOTr was not involved in the deal.
The EDSA Bus Consortia will look for another service provider “that can offer a better solution” to the problem. A meeting with other service providers will also be held Tuesday morning, DOTr said.
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