Vince Dizon to Beep card provider: Address the issues or lose contract
Transportation Sec. Vince Dizon. Photo from DOTr’s Facebook page.
MANILA, Philippines — Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon on Wednesday said that he warned the provider of Beep cards that failure to address insufficient cards will lead to non-renewal of its contract to the agency.
Dizon said that he is aware of the issues hounding Beep cards, like selling unauthorized and fake cards, and lack of readily available cards. Dizon made this remark when a netizen asked during the program about the availability and validity of Beep cards.
READ: DOTr: Alternative beep cards being sold online are unauthorized
“We told Beep that it is not acceptable. There should be sufficient supply and we told them that we will not renew their contract if they don’t address this because this is service [to the public,” Dizon, speaking in English, said in Radyo Pilipinas’ DOTr Sakay Na program.
He also said that he required the company to make the Beep cards readily available for commuters.
“The convenience, and again, our countrymen and women will not be preyed on by these scammers. If there is no problem with the supply, the scammers will not profit from this,” Dizon added.
Beep cards are used as an alternate cashless payment method in Metro Rail 3, Light Rail Transit 1, and Light Rail Transit 2. They can be pre-loaded in different train stations or through other authorized applications such as GCash or Maya.
The DOTr previously warned commuters that alternatives for Beep cards being sold online are fake and unauthorized. It also said that AF Payments Inc., the owner of the BeepTM trademark and logo, is the sole and exclusive issuer of Beep cards.
In 2022, the agency said that the Beep card shortage was brought by the pandemic-induced disruptions in chip manufacturing hubs and the rising cost of shipment and logistics./MR
