Numerous motorists, many of them living outside of Gauteng and who have not used e-tolled routes, believe that they have been victims of registration plate cloning after receiving shocking e-toll bills.
Sanral’s spokesperson Vusi Mona acknowledged that the unexplained bills could be the result of cloned registration plates and suggested that people dispute these bills through the agency’s Nomination and Representation process.
Sanral has yet to indicate how it would address registration cloning if the Nomination and Representation process proved that it was being used to avoid paying e-tolls.
Howard Dembovsky, Justice Project South Africa chairperson, said the organisation had warned Sanral that people might resort to cloning vehicle registrations to avoid paying e-tolls before the system was implemented.
According to Dembovsky, Sanral ignored these concerns saying that the system was sophisticated enough to ensure that people would not be able to successfully use cloned registration plates.
However, since the system was implemented in December 2013, several motorists have disputed their e-toll bills, arguing that their registration plates had been cloned.
There has been little indication regarding how Sanral will recoup outstanding e-toll amounts from motorists who were using cloned registration plates.
Meanwhile, the public had raised concerns about the legitimacy of SMSes requesting e-toll payments, saying that the messages did not provide the vehicle registration number or the recipient’s name.
Dembovsky said it was likely that opportunists were using Sanral’s method of SMSing motorists’ their outstanding e-toll balances to defraud people.
Adding to the challenge of determining whether an SMS was sent by Sanral or a scammer, was that the roads agency uses a range of numbers to message motorists.
However, Mona said Sanral’s messages did not include any banking information.
“The SMS informs people [of] the overdue amount and asks them to call 0800 726 725. A reference number is given at the end of the SMS,” he said.
He advised people to phone the call centre on 0800 726 725 or visit an e-toll Customer Service outlet to verify that the SMSes were sent by Sanral.
