Last Saturday (15 January), all the toll plazas along the PLUS highway have started receiving transactions using the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

However, that didn't go too well for some motorists, with many blaming the RFID system for malfunctioning.

And just recently, former Prime Minister Najib Razak added more fuel to the fire.

One big revelation

Image credit: Free Malaysia Today

On Tuesday (18 December), Najib questioned why the RFID stickers are being sold for RM35 per unit when the manufacturing cost for one is way, way less than that.

In a Facebook post, Najib revealed that the manufacturing cost of an RFID sticker is less than RM1 per unit.

He included a screenshot of a wholeseller selling 10 pieces of RFID stickers for just a little over RM3.

“The cost of a passive RFID sticker is less than RM1 per piece. So, why is it sold at RM35?," he questioned.

On top of that, Najib further asked if rebates would be given to motorists who are still using the SmartTAG technology once it is phased out.

"Will Touch ‘N Go or PLUS give rebates to users with Smart Tag devices that are no longer working if highways migrate completely to RFID?,” he wrote.

Last month, the Works Ministry confirmed that PLUS will be phasing out the usage of Touch ‘n Go and SmartTAG on their highways and transitioning to RFID by 2023.

'It was supposed to be free'

In the same post, Najib further revealed that RFID stickers were supposed to be given to Touch n' Go (TnG) users for free due to its low manufacturing cost.

In fact, he added that the company was giving them away for free from 2018 until February 2020.

“From 15 February 2020, it was sold at RM35 each,” Najib added.

The slamming did not stop there, however.

In another seperate Facebook post, he futher revealed that Touch ‘N Go as a company is already valued at RM3 billion, with CIMB -- TnG's parent company -- already raking in an additional RM1.16 billion in profit due to the increased value of its stake in TnG.

“So why is the sticker which costs less than RM1 still being sold at RM35 per piece? If it can’t be given out for free, then reduce the price to RM5.

“The focus (for TnG) should on its core e-wallet business, not earning ridiculous profits from sale of RFID stickers. Don’t just take care of the interest of giant banks to the point that it becomes a burden to consumers,” he wrote.

Well, when our former PM starts making sense, you know something's not right. TnG and CIMB have lots of explaining to do.

MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: Malay Mail