Sanral’s SMS bill takes its toll
E-tolling confusion has struck Honeydew.
A resident, Kevin Muggeridge received a SMS demanding he cough up R633.57. He claims that he has passed under a gantry only a handful of times.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” said Muggeridge, who drives from Honeydew to Centurion and back every weekday for work. He has not registered for an e-tag.
“I take the N14 from Honeydew and I only pass under one gantry as I enter Centurion and the same gantry on my way back home.” According to the e-toll calculator, he should be paying less than R150, which includes a non-registration charge.
A vast difference to the amount he has been billed for.
“I am a law-abiding citizen. I work hard and when I receive bills I pay them,” he said. “But those bills are factual, tangible invoices instructing exactly how and what I must pay for.”
He felt that a SMS with few details did not constitute an accurate invoice, a sentiment many South Africans share.
“What makes it worse is that I have no idea where they got my number from when I have never registered for a tag.” That he cannot check the exact details of the charges only exacerbates the situation. This can only be done if one has purchased an e-tag.
“If I knew exactly what I was paying for, it would be a different situation. If they can show me how they come up with a total of R633.57 in gantry fees I will pay.”
Muggeridge believes that he, along with thousands of motorists using the N14 highway, should not be required to pay fees if the road they make use of does not receive the same improvements as those of the N1.
“Give us an incentive. Let us know that what we are paying for will benefit us in the long run, above the taxes we already pay on petrol and road usage. Maybe even give those paying gantry fees a discount on petrol. But don’t expect us to simply pay after getting a SMS. That’s not how things are done legally, not in South Africa, or the rest of the world.”
Other frustrated motorists have taken to social media and consumer sites after receiving inaccurate e-toll bills via email and SMS. A complainant on the consumer feedback website, Hello Peter, said that there were discrepancies between the amount that was owed in the bill received via SMS and the amount that a consultant said was owed when the user called the customer service centre for clarity.
Others said that they had received e-toll bills despite having not used e-tolled routes since the system commenced on 3 December.
Facebook user Glen Borrill uploaded a screen grab of his cellphone, which displayed an SMS which he received on 6 December stating that he had an overdue e-toll balance of R432.34. The caption which accompanied the picture read: “I got this SMS this morning. I have not used any e-toll roads yet. I’m in the Free State.”
Another Facebook user, Bronwynn Basson, said “I received an SMS stating I owe R657… I DON’T EVEN OWN A CAR!!!”
Roads agency spokesperson Vusi Mona said e-toll customer services had been sending out SMS notifications of e-toll transactions that have been transferred to the Violations Processing Centre in order to ensure that motorists are informed about outstanding toll fees.
Mona said that SMSes and emails are not the agency’s only methods of billing motorists, adding that registered account holders receive their invoices in a 14-day cycle.
Mona explained that motorists would lose out on the applicable discounts if they did not settle their accounts within seven days. They would also be handed over to the collections processing centre.
This effectively means that collections agents will bother motorists with SMS, e-mail and telephonic notifications if the bills aren’t settled within a week of passing under the gantries.
“Once it appears that the debt collection process is unsuccessful, a final demand will be issued and the issue handed over to the prosecuting authority,” Mona said.
He said that motorists who dispute their e-toll transactions can use the nomination and representation processes that the agency has in place. Nomination allows a person to redirect responsibility for the payment of the e-toll transaction to another party, while representation can be used when responsibility for the payment of the e-toll transaction is being denied.
Following the flood of outrage from residents across Johannesburg the National Consumer Forum has deemed these SMS’s illegal due to it being in contravention of the Consumer Protection Act. “The government is trying to use illegal ways to force this thing [e-tolling] on consumers,” stated National Consumer Forum Chairman, Thami Bolani.
“Our feeling is that consumers should not take the SMSes seriously. They should wait until they get an official invoice proving that they used the freeway. If they want to query that, they should be allowed to do so and be able to pay the exact amount that is due.”
“We predicted this and said there would be a lot of problems because Sanral’s system is unworkable, technically cumbersome and administratively burdensome,” said Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) spokesperson, Wayne Duvenhage.
Details: Toll calculator website or Outa
