Autosweep RFID disruption prompts SMC to waive toll for 84k vehicles

If you weren't out on the road this morning, you're one of the few lucky motorists who avoided a major hassle.

Earlier today, there was a network outage in SMC Infrastructure's electronic toll collection (ETC) system. With the majority of lanes in the toll plazas utilizing the RFID system, this prevented motorists to pass through the toll gate barriers easily, causing major traffic jams along the South Luzon Expressway, NAIA Expressway, and STAR Tollway.

To clear things once and for all, SMC Infrastructure issued an official statement to the motorists affected by the immense traffic jam earlier today. Apparently, a cut in their fiber optic line has caused the network disruption. The conglomerate is still finding the root cause, but there are indications that a recent vehicular accident may have contributed to the issue.

With that said, all SMC Tollways have waived toll fees for around 84,000 vehicles affected by the ETC network disruption. To address the issue, barriers remained open at the toll plazas until 2:00 PM this afternoon. This was to give way to all the motorists affected by the traffic jam and pass through without being charged.

In addition, motorists who already had their ETC accounts deducted upon entry from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM will be electronically refunded in their Autosweep RFID accounts.

SMC Infrastructure has also extended its apologies to the motorists who were involved in the traffic jams earlier today and asks for understanding as they continue to improve the efficiency and reliability of their tollways.

As of now, SMC says their RFID systems are back online and shall resume normal toll collection services.