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Department of Agriculture-accredited truckers transporting agricultural goods/products will enjoy toll rebates
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The Agri-Trucks Toll Rebate Program will run for three months starting June 1, subject to evaluation for possible extension
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The Toll Regulatory Board on April 29 approved guidelines on the exemption of trucks carrying agricultural products from toll rate increase
Department of Agriculture-accredited truckers transporting agricultural goods/products will enjoy toll rebates for three months starting June 1.
The Agri-Trucks Toll Rebate Program was launched on May 23 by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and DA, in collaboration with expressway concessionaires and operators of Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic, Clark, Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).
The program, approved by TRB on April 29, allows subject truckers to receive toll rebates equivalent to the recent enumerated toll increases.
“This program aims to protect the welfare of the general public by minimizing the impact of toll rate increase on the overall inflationary situation to ensure the stability of food prices,” TRB executive director Atty. Alvin Carullo said in a statement.
“The TRB, together with the different government agencies, acknowledges the toll expressway concessionaires and operators for their full support and cooperation as this will not be possible if they did not agree to implement this exemption,” Carullo added.
The program was endorsed by the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) Subcommittee on Non-Food Inflation, which earlier asked the TRB to consider exempting trucks that cater to agricultural goods to be exempted from toll increases.
The program aims to “protect the welfare of the general public by curbing out the impacts of existing inflationary situations through providing exemption to toll rate increase of trucks carrying agricultural goods/products, further prevent second-round effects of the toll rate increase on food inflation, ensure stability in food prices, and minimize the impact of the toll rate increase on the overall inflation.”
Under the guidelines, all DA-accredited trucks carrying agricultural goods and use expressways are exempted from periodic toll increase approved by TRB and implemented starting June 2023.
The inclusion of pending petitions for toll rate increases with TRB will still be discussed with tollway operators.
To qualify for the exemption, agri-trucks should be accredited by the DA and should have a valid Autosweep and/or Easytrip RFID (radio frequency ID) accounts.
To enroll, truckers who are Easytrip RFID account holders (NLEX, SCTEX, and CAVITEX users) can visit the NLEX Balintawak Customer Service Center or CAVITEX Parañaque Customer Service Center.
For Autosweep RFID account holders (SLEX and MCX users), they can visit the C5 Office, Petron Commerce, Petron KM 44 Northbound, Calamba Customer Service Center, SLEX Greenfields, Southwoods Northbound, Southwoods Southbound, Sta. Rosa Northbound, Sta. Rosa Southbound, Star Toll Lipa Customer Service Center, and Tarlac Customer Service Center.
Once approved, agri-truckers will enjoy a toll rebate that will be credited to their RFID accounts every Wednesday of the following week. As part of monitoring and to prevent abuse, spot checks will be conducted to ensure enrolled trucks are transporting agricultural goods/products. Non-compliance may result in disqualification from the program. – Roumina Pablo
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