The problems government's e-toll system faces are doomed to be perpetuated if the body responsible for creating them in the first place is left in charge of finding a solution.
This is according to Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairperson Wayne Duvenage and comes after the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) yesterday presented an overview of e-tolling to Parliament.
Sanral told Parliament's portfolio committee on transport that the e-toll system faced challenges, but these were being addressed. The roads agency's CEO, Nazir Alli, said people were signing up for e-tolls in their thousands, showing motorists are now prepared to cooperate with Sanral to make the system work.
Alli largely blamed SA's vehicles database, the Electronic National Traffic Information System, (eNatis) for the widespread billing problems Sanral has on its plate. He said things like cloned number plates and vehicles without number plates were exacerbating the glitch. Alli said Sanral and its service provider, Electronic Toll Company, would address all the challenges identified.
Alli echoed Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona, who said last month that e-toll complaints mainly stemmed from incorrect data, the misunderstanding around the alternate toll tariff, cloned licence plate numbers, and failure to change ownership details for vehicles which have been sold.
Transport minister Dipuo Peters yesterday issued instructions to Sanral to urgently fix the e-toll billing system, which has proven inaccurate, with people across SA complaining about having received bills that do not belong to them.
But Duvenage believes the "rap on the knuckles" Peters gave the state-owned agency is not acceptable. "It is appalling that they keep calling in the guys who botched e-tolls in the first place, to fix it. You cannot leave the people that created the problem in charge of finding the solution."
E-toll education
Sanral, however, is confident it can solve many of the challenges it has called "teething problems" with an education campaign. "We close out the bulk of complaints within five days [and] over 85% are resolved by giving clarifications. It is clear from this that more customer education is needed," says Mona.
Last month, Mona said the agency would launch a "big education campaign" in a bid to iron out confusion around e-tolling and alert motorists to the consequences of not being tagged. He says the agency will also initiate a campaign to "remind vehicle owners of their legal responsibilities regarding eNatis".
Duvenage says for Sanral to blame eNatis and cloned plates is "laughable". He says the agency was forewarned on both these issues long before e-tolling was launched. He says the huge administration burden the agency faces should have been expected.
He says it is time the problems are put in others' hands if the hitches clogging the system are ever going to be cleared. Outa has carried out research around Gauteng's e-toll system, which will be released later this week, says Duvenage.
Sanral has apologised to road users for any inconvenience arising from e-toll teething problems, but has assured the public - and the portfolio committee - it is working to overcome them.
Erratic communication with the e-toll Web site, customer service points of presence, the e-toll call centre, and alternative payment methods are all issues it will address, says Sanral.
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