The Transport Minister has instructed officials to return the 10-fold fines the Department of Highways (DOH) collected from motorists who failed to pay the new M-Flow toll fees. He ordered the postponement of the imposition of the hefty fines until the end of March.
The move came after massive complaints about the exorbitant fine surfaced on social media.
Minister Saksayam Chidchob explained that the new M-Flow tolls are expected to address the issue of congestion in front of the toll gates.
M-Flow, according to the DOH, is an autonomous free-flow system that makes use of artificial intelligence technologies such as video-toll cameras. AI technologies can accurately match car license plates to their owners 99 percent of the time, allowing drivers to pass through toll gates without slowing down and at a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour.
The M-Flow system is capable of processing between 2,000 and 2,500 vehicles per hour per lane. The DOH anticipates a fivefold increase in traffic volume around toll gates compared to the current cash payment system.
The DOH also reported that, since M-Flow’s debut on February 15th, there were about 20,000 unregistered motorists who have been fined. The department gave reassurance that the department would return the fines it had collected by March. (NNT)
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