Transport minister orders suspension of M-Flow fines
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob said on Thursday that he instructed the Highways Department to delay fines for late payment of the use of the new M-Flow tollgates until the end of next month.
Saksayam’s move follows public complaints that the new system, which has gone into operation at four tollgates on Motorway No 9, or the Bang Pa In ring road, is confusing and the late payment fines are too high.
Some motorists also complained that a banking system glitch made it unable for them to pay the tolls in time, leading to expensive fines.
Saksayam admitted that the errors in the banking clearance system of payments prompted several motorists to be fined.
The minister said he ordered the department to return all the fines to motorists and delay new fines until March 31.
The M-Flow is a new barrier-less tollgate system. Motorists are required to register with the system’s website for postpaid accounts. They can choose to be charged for each pass or on a monthly basis.
Those who have not registered for M-Flow accounts are required to pay the bill within two days or face a fine that’s ten times the amount.
The Highways Department had announced that there was a glitch in the bank payment clearance system from 9pm on February 21 to 12pm on February 22. The glitch led to payments by motorists being declared as “pending”.
The announcement stated that Krung Thai Bank is addressing the glitch and all payments will be updated as “done” after the fix.
Motorists who have paid twice for the tolls would be refunded in full, the announcement said.
Those who want to still complain about the payments or fines can contact officials via the M-Flow website or use the mflowthai app, the announcement added.
