This follows numerous complaints by motorists across the country, ranging from incorrect billing and exorbitant charges to website malfunctions, not receiving bills, bad service and defective e-tags.
“We are aware of a number of queries regarding the e-toll billing system which have arisen in the month since the system first became operational and we would like to assure road users that we take their concerns seriously and are making every effort to deal with those which are valid,” Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona said.
However, Mona said only a small percentage of the complaints received were in relation to e-toll registration.
He scoffed at claims that the system was besieged with problems, attributing many of the e-toll billing complaints to people incurring additional charges for non-compliance.
He said there were misunderstandings regarding the cost of using the e-tolls due to users’ failure to comply with the timeframe stipulated in the enforcement of e-toll violations, which caused disputes about e-toll bills.
“When you do not have an e-tag, you do not get all the benefits and if you do not pay within the stipulated seven days, there is an additional cost incurred,” Mona said.
However, in some instances motorists who had not used tolled routes and were being billed, could be the victims of cloned vehicle registrations or a vehicle’s transfer of ownership had not been done, he explained.
Responding to motorists’ claims that the emails and SMSes, which served as reminders of outstanding balances, was a security breech and an invasion of privacy, Mona said the cellphone numbers had been acquired legally.
“Sanral is using legally available resources at its disposal to contact vehicle owners… This is in the spirit of ensuring the owner is informed about any outstanding tolls due,” he added.
Meanwhile, following reports that a hacker had accessed registered users’ personal information by means of their usernames, Sanral said new security measures had been implemented to ensure the website’s security.
“Sanral strongly condemns the cyber-attack on the online e-toll account management website. Our technicians worked flat out… when it was brought to our attention to resolve this security issue and an intervention has been successfully deployed to ensure that login details for online account management is secure,” Mona said.
Mona encouraged road users to report their problems to Sanral’s call centre on 0800 726 725.
