Public protector called in e-toll billing mess
The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) says it has approached the Office of the Public Protector to urgently intervene on Sanral‘s e-toll collection method, which has incensed South African public.
Outa says it has received hundreds of complaints from people regarding incorrect and threatening e-toll bills being sent to them via e-mail and SMS.
The e-toll system was implemented in Gauteng on December 3, 2013.
“The recent wave of numerous inexplicable, inaccurate and threatening SMSes from Sanral’s collection agents for outstanding e-toll fees merely reflects their bully-boy mentality,” said Outa chairperson, Wayne Duvenage.
“The various media channels and in particular, social media are alive with a multitude of claims of inaccurate e-toll bills and demands for so called ‘violations’, along with breaches in the security of people’s private information. It is far too easy for Sanral to fob these serious issues off as mere teething problems, especially after claiming to be prepared following the testing of their systems for the past two years.”
Duvenage said that Outa alone has received over 500 complaints through its web site and hundreds more on their Facebook site over the past two weeks and one imagines thousands more will have not even bothered to complain and merely laughed these messages off.
“Just because Sanral has the technology for sending messages efficiently doesn’t absolve them from basic rules of common courtesy. If the system is supposed to serve people, Sanral have a duty to be people centred rather than technology obsessed.” said Duvenage.
The anti-tolling lead said that as a State Owned Enterprise (SOE), Sanral and its collection agents appear to be unapologetic and confident that sending threatening SMS’s is an adequate method of extorting payment from GFIP road user’s, without first offering tax invoices to those that did not register for an e-tag, even though they are legally required to do so.
“One only has to imagine what outrage would exist, in particular from Government and general society, should any private company operate as Sanral does in this regard.
“It is for this reason that Outa has approached the Office of the Public Protector to urgently intervene to compel Sanral to face up to its critics in a responsible and mature manner. The Deputy Public Protector Advocate Kevin Malunga has noted receipt of Outa’s complaint for early resolution and we trust this process will be underway within a few weeks,” Duvenage said.
Outa expressed amusement over Sanral’s opinion that ‘people are seeing the value of getting e-tags’.
Sanral head of communications Vusi Mona said on Wednesday, that an increase in e-tag sales was an indication that motorists are prepared to cooperate with Sanral.
“It’s not value they are seeing at all,” said Duvenage, “but instead, most of the minority of road users who have purchased have done so begrudgingly and under duress.”
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