LTO, IT contractor collected P46.7 million for RFID, computer fees

MANILA, Philippines - Militant public transport group Piston (Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide) said yesterday the Land Transportation Office (LTO) should refund P46.7 million, and not just P30 million, to motorists who were issued radio frequency identification tags before the controversial RFID project was suspended by the Supreme Court last week.

George San Mateo, secretary general of Piston, claimed that aside from collecting P350 from each motor vehicle owner for the RFID tag, the LTO and their computerization contractor, Stradcom Corp., had also charged a P169.06 computer fee during the RFID tag installation process.

“They actually collected a total of P519.09 from each of the 90,000 motor vehicle owners who registered their vehicles with the LTO and were issued an RFID tag this month before the RFID project was stopped with a temporary restraining order or TRO by the Supreme Court,” he said.

San Mateo said the LTO and its contractor should refund these motorists since the motor vehicle owners will not be able to get any service for the RFID tags they paid for.

Piston and party-list groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela, had filed a petition before the Supreme Court last Dec. 19, asking for the scrapping of the project. They said there was no public bidding for the project, which had not been submitted to the National Economic Development Authority for review.