AF Payments Inc. (AFPI) is waiving the maintenance and processing fees for public utility vehicles (PUV) shifting to the automatic fare collection system (AFCS) for cashless and contactless transactions which would help curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
Mark De Leon, transportation assistant secretary for road transport and infrastructure, said in a statement this initiative by AFPI can help boost the income of PUV operators, as AFPI was charging between 4 to 6 percent of their daily gross revenues as maintenance and processing fees prior to the enforcement of the community quarantine.
“Before, if a bus operator earns P20,000 per bus a day, it translates to a P1,200 transaction cost daily. This decision of AFPI to waive their fees will be a big boost to the PUV operators’ income,” De Leon said.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is now in talks with bus operators that are eyeing to consolidate their operations into a consortium, and with that development, they would need AFCS to appropriately manage their fare collections, and share the income among themselves.
The shift to cashless and contactless transaction in PUVs will be part of the “new normal” in public transportation.
“We want to promote a ‘new normal’ in public transportation. And shifting to cashless and contactless transactions is part of that. Cashless payments will be beneficial to operators since it reduces pilferage and other losses,” said Arthur Tugade, secretary of the Department of Transportation.
“It also automates accounting, and immediately provides ridership reports to the operator for analysis of its operations. This is a game-changer, as it enables the operator to further improve its service,” Tugade added.
AFPI has expressed support to the government in its bid to modernize the fare collection system of PUVs.
A consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp., AFPI is the company behind the beep, the AFCS used in the Light Rail Transit lines 1 and 2 and the Metro Rail Transit line 3.
“AFPI is proud to support the efforts of the government to reopen public transport and is ready to equip buses and jeepneys with contactless devices that enable cashless ticketing and payment,” said Chona Basilio, AFPI chief financial officer.
